E Revolution
by Giampi
Summary: The end is here.
1. 1st Revolution: Lucidity

**_E. Revolution—the story of what could have been_**

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**_-=1st Revolution=-_**

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**_::Lucidity:: _**

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_"Who knows how they did it. It looks damn near impossible…"_

_"The police are doing everything…"_

_"_Ness___…find me…please…"_

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"...are over two thousand years old. It is estimated that their approximate value in modern currency, given today's statistical anomalies and the current cultural bias towards objects of their type, is over three billion. Now, bear in mind that these priceless objects are on loan from the Summers Museum. That means that I want you on your best behavior, got it? Stay together and conduct yourselves appropriately or you're suspended. Now let's go."

"Geez, what bit _him _today? It's not like we're going to steal anything…although we could if we wanted, right Ness? Hey, Ness, you still here, buddy? Snap out of it!"

Jeff waved his hand calmly in front of Ness' face.  Ness reacted a second later by turning to face him.

"Um…sorry. I was distracted." Ness walked towards the rest of his class, which was now busy admiring the many displays set up in the large, main chamber of the Fourside Museum of Natural History.  As he marched casually towards a large, glass case holding a stone tablet, with a round, green stone in the center, Jeff sighed to himself.

"You know, lately you've been spacing out a lot," commented Jeff.  He joined Ness, who had his nose close to the glass, admiring the hieroglyphics on the tablet. "Care to explain?"

Ness glanced briefly at Jeff, choosing to evade giving any sort of long answer to that question. 

Jeff adjusted his thick, round glasses and placed one hand in his blue trousers. "It's that girl from the dream again, isn't it?"

There was a pause as Ness turned to face his friend, a look of confusion on his face. "We've been through this before, Jeff," he said. "There's nothing wrong with me. It was just a dream."

Jeff's blonde, neatly-combed hair shook to accompany Jeff's head, which shook disapprovingly. "Listen, man, you're starting to dream about her during the day now. Don't you think that _means_ something?" 

Ness walked over to the next display and stared at it, still reluctant to continue with the conversation. "I am _not _dreaming about her during the day. Besides, I've never seen the girl in my life."

"Uh-huh." Jeff and Ness walked past a small group of their classmates and made their way to a larger display with a sarcophagus inside. "You know, you're only seventeen. You're too young to spend your days thinking about a dream girl. If you're that desperate, I could hook you up with a friend of mine…"

Ness cut off the conversation by glaring at Jeff. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Listen, I'm just worried."

Ness sighed. "…I know. I appreciate it, but there's nothing wrong."

"Fine, fine…so, we still on for the Runaway Five concert next week? I know a great place where we can…" His best friend's voice suddenly faded into nothingness—Ness had simply blocked it out. 

That afternoon Ness and Jeff walked home quickly.  Jeff lived only two blocks from Ness' house, so they had made a habit of walking home together every day.  By the time he and Jeff had parted and Ness had made it back to his apartment, it was nearly dusk.

Ness had been living in Fourside ever since he was a child.  His mother had died when he was very young, and his father worked for a large corporation.  At the moment he was a junior in high school, and his life boiled down to the typical routine characteristic of boys his age.  Jeff had always been his best friend and, although they had vastly different personalities—Jeff was more carefree in many respects, yet infinitely more studious—they got along perfectly.

"I'm home!" Ness slipped out of his blue jacket and hung it on the coat rack near the door by the hood.  Then, after smelling and hearing someone cooking in the kitchen, he made his way over.  Standing over the counter, chopping up some vegetables, was a thirteen-year-old girl in a pink top, with matching shorts.

"Hey, Tracy," Ness laid his book bag on the floor beside the couch, and then headed for the counter. "Where's dad?"

"He said he had to work late, so I'm cooking dinner," she replied. "How was school?"

"We had a field trip today." Ness walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open, then fished out a can of soda.  He spoke as he made his way back to the couch and plopped down on it. "They had some artifacts from the Summers Museum, so we went to take a look."

"Hmm…I hope _I get to visit them, too…"_

The rest of the evening went by just like every other.  After eating, Ness made his way to his room and, after clearing his bed of stray clothes and books, flopped down on it.  He lay there for what seemed like a good while, just staring at the ceiling.  All the while, his thoughts kept turning to the same thing: the girl that kept appearing in his dreams.  

Last night had been the third time this week.  At first it didn't really bother him, but the dreams kept getting more frequent, and each dream was infinitely more real than the last.  He didn't want to worry Jeff, so he said nothing, but…

"Ness, phone! It's Jeff!"

Speak of the devil.  Ness slowly left his room and walked to the living room, where he took the cordless phone and put it to his ear. "Hey, Jeff."

"Hey. You see the news?"

"News? No, why?"

"Well, put it on! You're not going to believe this!"

Ness grabbed the tiny black remote and switched on the television in the corner of the living room.  Instantly an image of the Fourside Museum came on.  Several reporters were holding up their microphones to a man in a policeman's uniform, who was trying to calm everyone down. 

"Who knows how they did it," said the policeman into one of the microphones. "As far as I know, it's damn near impossible to steal _anything _from this museum."

Ness' eyes went wide.  He nearly dropped the phone in his hand.  Suddenly the image of the anchorman came back on. 

"The police are doing everything they can to track the culprit," said he. "Currently there is no word from the Scaraba Museum, the rightful owner of the stolen tablet."

"Pretty shocking, huh, Ness?"

Ness quickly snapped out of it and turned the television off with a press of the button on the remote control. "Y-yeah, that's…pretty shocking…" _How did I know that was going to happen? _

"Tell me about it. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"S-sure…bye, Jeff."

Ness hung up the phone and walked back to his room, then flopped on the bed.  After arranging himself so that he was facing towards the ceiling, he stretched out his hand and looked at it, perplexed.  The only coherent thought he was able to form was the name of the mysterious girl that kept appearing in his dreams. _Paula…_

The last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep was the blurry, yet all too real image of that girl. "Ness…find me…please…" she said.

The next day Ness met up with Jeff, and together they headed towards the bus stop.  Unlike the afternoon, the two boys liked taking the bus to school, since it was too early for them to consider walking.  After getting on the bus and paying the fare, the boys made headed towards the back of the bus.  Once there they started chatting happily about the usual, menial topics.  

Two minutes after having boarded the bus, the sky grew dimmer very suddenly.  Several people on its right side began looking out their windows and chatting amongst themselves.  Jeff ambled over to the right side of the bus and peeked through the glass window at whatever it was that had garnered everyone's attention.  

"Hey, Ness, you're not going to believe this!" Jeff called Ness over, and then tapped his finger on the glass, attempting to indicate something outside. "Look at that thing! Up there, in the sky!"

At the behest of his friend, Ness stepped up to the window and pressed his face against it.  Awkwardly he tried to crane his neck so that he could get a better look, but in the end he had to satisfy himself with contemplating from afar.

It was, for lack of a better, more appropriate word, a flying saucer.  The huge, silver discus hovered silently over part of the district they were in, casting an obtuse shadow on the citizens below.  There didn't seem to be anything particularly overwhelming about the unidentified flying object, which was content with just floating there, not making a sound. 

A feeling of uneasiness overcame Ness. He couldn't quite place it, but it was there, trying to tell him something…it was the same feeling that he had experienced the previous night, when he saw the news…

Ness' pupils dilated briefly as a terrifying image flashed across his mind, nearly overloading his brain.  Instantly he yanked himself from the window and tried to dash towards the front of the bus. "No, wait! Stop the bus!"

Too late.  No sooner had Ness shouted his warning, drawing the bus driver's attention, than the flying saucer had advanced menacingly towards their position.  Once it was directly over the bus the central portion of the bottom disk began to glow.  From the center shot a large, purple beam of something akin to lightning.  The bolt snaked down to the ground, shattering the pavement directly in front of the bus with a loud boom.

Everything broke into slow motion.  The bus driver slammed on the brakes and tried to veer out of the way, but the momentum of the machine was too great, and the bus toppled over, onto its left side.  The passengers erupted into screams as the bus slid forward on its side, showering whatever was nearby with hot sparks.  Ness was hurled to the side, crashing into the roof of the bus.  

As soon as Ness was able to stand up he rushed over to Jeff, who was nursing a nasty bump on his forehead.  He was sitting on the 'floor', which was actually one of the bus' windows.

"You okay?" Ness tried to get a good look at the bloody lump that had formed on his best friend's forehead.  Jeff nodded, albeit weakly and painfully.

"I'm fine…" he said. "Jeez, what the hell _was _that thing?"

"I don't know," Ness took off his red cap and dusted it, then placed it back on his head. "But I'd better go for help. Stay here."

With that Ness rose and began hopping over the bus' benches, trying to make his way towards the front.  The bus' few passengers seemed a lot worse for wear than Ness, who was barely bruised—some had fallen on the benches and suffered from broken bones, while others were unconscious.  There were silent moans and whimpers as Ness finally made it to the front, where the bus driver, who was still strapped into his seat, hung limply.  When the bus tipped over on its left side the driver had hit his head, hard.  Ness reached into the control panel and fiddled with the buttons until he found the one that opened the door.  Then, using the driver's seat as a platform, he jumped up and grabbed the hand railing, using it to climb up and out of the bus.  Before he completely disappeared Jeff called out to him.

"Hey Ness! Be careful, you never know what's out there!"

"Don't worry!" Ness smiled and waved at his friend. "You just worry about helping these people; I'll be back with help soon!"

Ness hopped off the bus and onto the street.  After dusting off his blue jacket and yellow shirt he took off towards the downtown area, hoping to find a policeman or ambulance that could help him.

As he ran several thoughts were playing in his head.  What was that flying saucer? Why did it attack the city? How did it appear so suddenly? And, most importantly, _how was he able to see what it would do ahead of time?_

During his run through the streets Ness could see that many had suffered the same fate as he.  Upturned cars littered the streets, some caught in the middle of car crashes produced by the attack.  The unfortunate few that actually got hit by the purple lightning were now being helped out of their cars by passers-by.  All in all it looked like war had erupted in the span of one morning.

Soon enough Ness found an ambulance.  The paramedics were loading a man with a broken neck into the vehicle and were preparing to head for the hospital.  By the time Ness got there they were already leaving.

"Hey! Please help me!" Ness slammed his palm against the driver's window of the slow-moving ambulance, which was weaving through the disaster area. "You have to help me, please."

The driver stopped and rolled down his window. "What is it?" 

"I-I was in a bus accident, down that way," Ness pointed a finger to the street from which he came, while still facing the driver. "Lots of people are hurt! You have to help!"

"Okay, kid, I'll try and send a unit over there…" the driver picked up his radio. "Where are they?"

"75th and Topolla. It's a big, overturned bus."

The driver nodded and sped off, leaving Ness in the middle of the street.  There were probably dozens of other overturned buses, and hundreds of other accidents…what else could he do, other than wait and hope? The whole situation made Ness feel powerless.  But that strange feeling was still there…

His attention was drawn skyward when several people began pointing up, towards the flying saucer, and screaming.  People started scrambling indoors, towards other streets…anything to get away from the horrible spectacle they were now witnessing.

The silver, metallic saucer emanated ripples from its center towards the edges.  Slowly the saucer began to melt, as odd as it was to consider the possibility.  The chrome was replaced by a sickly red as the craft became one big, pulsating blob.  It hovered there for a few seconds, silently, and then began releasing smaller blobs.  It dropped two in Ness' vicinity, and then began heading towards other parts of town, apparently trying to spread the blobs evenly around town.

The smoking, foul-smelling, amorphous masses hit the ground with a nauseating splat.  For a moment all was silent as the slimy piles pulsated.  Then, with a crunch and a splurt, the blobs were ripped open by whatever was inside.  The blob furthest from Ness 'hatched' to reveal, ironically, a creature that looked like a big pile of slime, save for a big mouth filled with jagged, uneven rows of teeth.  The blob closest to Ness was shed, and a creature that looked like an eye with legs sprouting out of its sides came out of it.  The red eye fixed its black pupil on Ness while it stretched its legs.  Then both creatures struck without as much as a warning. 

The slimy pile lunged at a fire hydrant and ripped it right out of the ground with its teeth.  It stood there, showered by water, before lunging again.  In the meantime the walking eye raised one of its legs and tried to stomp Ness.  The boy was thrown to the floor on his back, but he managed to avoid the attack.  

Ness scrambled to his feet and began running away from the monstrous eye that had set him as its target.  He barely managed to avoid the creature's feet as they slammed into the pavement, leaving craters in its wake.  After running for a few seconds Ness tripped on a piece of debris and fell to the floor.  He tumbled and rolled for a few feet before coming to a stop face-up.  The creature slowed to a stop and tilted its eye to the side.  Ness tried to scramble away frantically, but the creature brought its foot down and pinned him to the ground helplessly.  As Ness struggled to breathe the monster lowered itself towards Ness, making a massive M shape with its legs.  Ness squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the worst.  Fortunately, the worst never came.

The eye monster stumbled back; it had been hit in the leg by a star-shaped blast.  The monster roared and winced in pain as two more starts crashed into it and crippled it.  It stumbled into a lamp post and knocked it over before a final star hit it square in the eye.  The monster fell to the floor, and green ooze flowed out of its dead body.

"Hey, kid! Are you okay?"

An Asian man in an oriental-style outfit called out to Ness from his left.  His black ponytail, the only piece of hair on his otherwise bald head, flailed as he ran over to Ness and helped him to his feet.  

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…just…I…" Ness couldn't form the words.  The man reached into the sleeve of his jacket and pulled out a cell phone, which he snapped open.  After pressing a button on it, he turned away from Ness.

"It's here," he said with a strong, oriental accent. "I wasn't able to stop it in time…yes, it has changed shape already…I will do everything I can. Poo, out."

After storing his phone back in his sleeve the man turned to look at Ness before slipping on a pair of sunglasses.

"Listen to me, kid," he said. "I want you to go somewhere safe and hide until this is over."

Ness nodded briefly, but he didn't move just yet. "What _are those things?" he asked meekly. "Where did they come from?"_

"It is not of your concern. Now go!"

The man ran in the direction of the slimy pile, leaving Ness alone in the middle of the street.  He stood there for a second, dazed and unsure of what to do, then decided to head back to the bus and check on Jeff.  However, as soon as he began to run, he heard a voice.

"Ness…"

Eyes wide, Ness stopped dead in his tracks. _That voice…Paula!_

"Ness…don't leave…"

Without so much as stopping to consider how insanely stupid it was, Ness whirled and followed in the direction of the stranger that had saved his life.     

That man was now facing the slimy pile, which had managed to take out a large part of the area before it encountered any opposition.  He faced the drooling slime, looking at it impassively through black sunglasses while the monster roared.  Then, with a small rustling sound, he brought up his hand and pointed his palm at the aberration.  Surprisingly, it began to glow, until four star-shaped energy blasts shot from his hand. 

The monster didn't move; it allowed the blasts to hit it head on, at which point it vibrated violently, but did not die.  The man raised an eyebrow and lowered his hand.

"Energy absorption…it's adapting…"

The monster lunged, and the stranger leaped back, landing on the hood of a nearby car.  Although his attack had been completely neutralized, he didn't show so much as a bead of sweat.  Instead he hopped off the car and extended his palm towards it.  With a grunt the car began to lift off the ground, hefted by the man's psychokinetic powers.  Another grunt launched the airborne car at the monster, who met it with open jaws.  This time the man gasped in surprise, for the monster chomped down on the car and threw it harmlessly to the side.  Thinking quickly, he tossed something else—it too was caught and destroyed.  As a last ditch effort the man lifted a manhole cover and threw it like a discus.  He managed to hit the creature in the side, but it was far from falling.  

The man watched calmly as the creature leaped over him and made its way towards the manhole he himself had uncovered.  He began to follow when he caught sight of the bewildered Ness, who had watched nearly the entire scene from afar.

"I thought I told you to _go hide!!_" he yelled, jogging over to Ness. "Didn't you hear me?"

"Yes, but…then I heard a voice, and…"

The man scoffed. "A voice?! Kid, this is no time to play games. _Go. Home. Now."_ He went to grab Ness' shoulder when the boy's eyes grew wide and he clutched his savior's shirt. 

"Look out! Behind you!"

The man whirled just in time to see the slime monster burst out of the pavement and leap into the air.  The two watched helplessly as the creature slammed down on the street, cracking it.  Both Ness and the man were thrown back violently, and they landed a few meters away. 

Ness looked on helplessly at the creature, which opened its stinking maw and prepared to devour them.  The man had slipped off his sunglasses, and was in a similar position.  Ness had raised his hand instinctively, hoping subconsciously that it would keep the monster away.  As the creature lunged, however, something clicked in Ness' mind.

"…Ness…"

Ness squeezed his eyes shut, and a brilliant light radiated from his hand.  The incandescent flash stopped the monster like a wall, and it began to shriek as it convulsed.  The man had raised his arm in order to protect his eyes, and was looking on in astonishment.  After a few seconds of twitching the smoldering carcass of the slimy pile slumped to the ground and was still.

Ness looked at the now-dead monster with shocked eyes, hand still raised, breath coming in short, ragged bursts.  He stared at his hand as if he couldn't really believe what had just happened, even though it transpired before his very eyes.  The carcass, which was oozing an inky black, smoked slightly.  Just how had he done that? And why had he heard Paula's voice again?

His thoughts were interrupted as the man grabbed his upper arm and hauled him to his feet.  His calm demeanor had returned, although Ness was unable to see the stranger's eyes as they pierced into his through the black lenses of his sunglasses. 

"How did you do that?" he asked dryly.  Ness shook his head innocently.

"I…don't know…" he said. "I-I just…lifted my hand and…I d-don't even know what I did…"

"Psycholuminescence." The man walked over to the monster and looked it over. "You used your mind to generate light, and you killed it."

"Light? But how…"

The man whipped his head around, and his ponytail flailed. "That's exactly what I'm wondering."

Ness was about to say something else when the cell phone in the stranger's coat beeped loudly.  He removed it from his sleeve and held it up to his ear. "Yes, this is Poo…are you sure…all right, I will…I'll be there in ten minutes."

After storing the phone, he grabbed Ness' wrist and took off towards an unknown direction.  "Come on, you're coming with me," he said dryly, half-dragging Ness.  

The boy tried in vain to yank his wrist free. "Hey! Wait a minute! Where are you taking me?"

The man did not stop walking.  On the contrary, his pace quickened and his grip on Ness' wrist tightened. "Trust me, it's for the best. I'll explain everything when we get to the Sky Runner." He then turned back to the streets and fell quiet; he didn't feel like he needed to explain any further. 

After running silently for a few minutes, the stranger stopped.  They were standing a few blocks away from the bridge that led out of Fourside and into the Dusty Dunes Desert.  It was only after stopping that the man relinquished his grip.  The two stood there, waiting, until Ness broke the silence.

"_Now can you tell me what's going on?"_

The man slipped off his sunglasses and stored them in his sleeve. "I suppose so," he said, his words stilted.  He reached into his other sleeve and procured a small, leather billfold, which he opened to reveal an identification card. "My name is Kai Poo. I am a special psychic agent for the counter-Giygas force, SANCTUARY. I was on a mission to prevent this mess when I found you."

Ness blinked and tried to assimilate the information he had just been given.  Quite frankly, he couldn't make heads or tails of half the stuff he heard.  Then again, today _nothing _made sense…

"So, if you were going to prevent it, why didn't you? Did you fail?"

"Yes…" Poo's tone became even more somber when he said that word, as if it caused him a great deal of pain. "There was a mole. But that's not important." He turned to Ness and stared into his eyes.  Poo's gaze was deep and penetrating, and Ness felt as if he was being burned by lasers when the agent fixed his eyes on his. "What matters is that Giygas attacked. It's out in the open now, and it's only a matter of time before it strikes again. Do you have any friends or family in this city?"

Ness nodded. "My dad and my sister…then there's my friend, Jeff Andonuts…"

The psychic's neatly-stylized eyebrow curled upwards, and his gaze seemed less penetrating all of a sudden. "Andonuts? Your friend's name is Andonuts?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Unfortunately, all Ness got for a response was a thoughtful, "hmm…" from Poo.  At that moment he was looking up at the sky.  Ness thought for a moment that he was simply thinking, but that theory was discarded when a low, muffled rumbling reached his ears.  Looking up, he saw a flying craft, not much larger than a small helicopter.  The craft was spherical and had a thing fringe that circumvented it—the spinning, glowing fringe was what kept the craft airborne, apparently.

The Sky Runner's three legs cushioned the craft's landing, and a small hatch opened on the bottom half.  Ness saw Poo duck into the flying machine.  Shortly thereafter he heard the psychic call out to him.

"Hey, kid! Are you coming or what?"

Ness opened his mouth to complain against the man's harsh tone, but a moment's thought convinces him that it wouldn't get him very far.  Silently he climbed in the Sky Runner.  

The inside was rather cramped, and Ness had to shift around a lot to get comfortable on the lightly cushioned ring that went around the inside of the vehicle.  He quickly spotted a safety harness, which he pulled down over his head and attached to a buckle between his legs.

Ness was jostled softly to the side as the Sky Runner, which was completely automated and therefore unmanned, took off.  He felt his stomach drop during the craft's ascent, and couldn't help but latch onto his harness, slightly afraid.  Poo, obviously, showed no such reaction.  He just sat there, eyes closed and arms crossed.

Since he definitely wasn't going to get a decent conversation from the stranger, Ness turned his attention to one of the small, circular windows that lined the top half of the Sky Runner.  He could see the city of Fourside getting farther and farther away.  As the metropolis became just a small speck, Ness' recollection of the day faded into the hazy confines of his memory.  How could he explain what he had just seen, if he couldn't even convince himself that it was real? From afar, the city looked peaceful, but the inside was screaming, torn apart by the chaos that was assailing it.  

"Don't worry, everything will be explained soon." Poo's soft, yet stern voice drew Ness away from the window.  He too was looking at the city, which was now nothing more than a spot on the horizon. 

Ness leaned back. "I hope so." 

There was a moment of awkward silence until Ness heard the next question. "So, you got a name, or should I just call you 'kid'?"

"I—yeah, my name…" Ness closed his eyes. "My name's Ness." 

"Hmm." Poo turned back to the window, his curiosity satisfied.

The last thing that Ness saw before fatigue took him over and lulled him to sleep was the image of a blonde girl in a pink dress.  She had her hand held out to him, and a warm smile on her face.

_Paula…_


	2. 2nd Revolution: Gravity

**_E. Revolution_**

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**_-=2nd Revolution=-_**

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**_::Gravity::_**

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"Ten years ago, in the year 199X, as per the prophecies written on an old tomb found inside one of the pyramids of Scaraba, the Earth was attacked by a force of pure, concentrated chaos known only as Giygas.  In order to counteract the influence of Giygas on Earth, a special organization known as SANCTUARY was created. As such, SANCTUARY's main goal is to eradicate any traces of the chaotic force and prevent it from destroying our way of life along with the entirety of the human race. Any questions?"

The small, metallic room fell completely silent, signaling that Ness was expected to say something.  All he could do, though, was stare blankly at the brawny man in the gray uniform that stood a few feet from him, back straight and arms folded behind him.  The man's eyes were obscured by a pair of sunglasses, although Ness could tell that the officer wasn't too pleased with Ness' reaction to his little diatribe.  His nostrils flared over the thick, neatly combed mustache that all but covered his upper lip.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence Ness cleared his throat and averted his gaze to the small nameplate on the officer's chest.  On it the name 'Strong' was written in black, bold letters. 

"I…well, there is one question…" Ness trailed off.  Strong's expression remained unchanged. "It's just…why are you telling me this?"

Strong's loud, booming reply nearly made Ness fall out of his chair. "It is my responsibility to inform new trainees of their duties before they are completely assimilated into our forces!" During the whole time Strong didn't move a single muscle, save for his lips and his mustache.

The small conference was interrupted when the metallic door that served as an entrance to the cramped room slid open with a whoosh.  Standing on the other side was Poo.  Silently he motioned for Ness to follow, not acknowledging Strong's stiff figure.  Of course, any reason to get away from the officer was good enough, and Ness quickly left the room after shooting Strong one last look.

"How have you been doing so far?" Poo's brisk pace has was hard to keep up with; Ness had to half-jog just to stay alongside Poo, who had his eyes locked, focusing straight ahead. 

"It's okay, I guess," Ness answered as they rounded a corner of the silver hallway and crossed an intersection. "I was able to clean up. I'm still not sure where we are, though. Since the windows on the Sky Walker—"

"Runner. Sky Runner."

"…right. Since the windows on the Sky Runner were so small I couldn't see where we landed."

Poo glanced briefly at a group of young women in uniform who passed him by, but showed no sign of answering Ness' doubts.  All Ness could do was sigh in discontent. 

Eventually the two came to a large double door.  Painted on the center was a large circle with an image of a horned man holding a sword upside-down to his chest.  Along the bottom rim the words 'Prodeo Obviam Ordinatio" were written in a simple, bold font.  As soon as Poo reached the doorway he retrieved his identification from his sleeve pocket and slid it through a small, black card reader on the wall.  There was a beep of confirmation and the doors slid open compliantly. 

The only word that could possibly hope to describe the room Ness had just stepped in was "wow".  It wasn't a room like the others he had visited in this place—the three marble steps that led down to the large garden; the cobblestone walkway; the small brook snaking away down the middle, with the wooden bridge over it; and the large tree on the far side gave this particular room an aura like no other.  Ness stood there in a daze as he contemplated the flowers and the sky, visible through the large glass dome that covered the garden.

"Come on, don't just stand there." Poo grabbed Ness' upper arm and dragged him over the wooden bridge, where a small table was waiting for them, under the shade of the tree.  Ness and Poo sat in two chairs that were next to the table.  Once they sat Poo turned his gaze over to the outside of the dome, where a valley with a river running through it was clearly visible.  

"So, you gonna ask me what this is, or what?"

Ness looked at the shadow cast on the table, which had several gaps where the sun's rays managed to filter through. "I just don't know where to start."

Poo nodded. "That's okay. I think Chief Strong told you something, right?"

"Right. He said that…whatever attacked me yesterday was chaos…Giygas, he called it."

"That's right." Poo leaned back on the chair and crossed his arms. "Giygas is chaos itself. We're here to stop it, and bring back complete order."

Ness let out a sigh.  Images of the previous day's events came to him.  Although they were faint, the sensations they evoked were so vivid that he swore he could hear a faint, distant call when the monsters roared, and he could feel something brushing up against his arm when he remembered the bus crash. 

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I knew you were gonna ask that," said Poo with a sigh.  He leaned forward and placed his arms on the table, then gave Ness a comforting look—not that it made him feel any better, since Poo's piercing eyes were as discomforting as could be. 

"We brought you here because you have psychic powers. SANCTUARY always uses psychics to combat Giygas."

With his curiosity satisfied, at least for the moment, Ness leaned back and closed his eyes.  It was almost refreshing, actually, to be here.  However, there was still the fact that he hadn't received word from either his family or Jeff…

"Ah! You are here!"

A third voice snapped Ness out of his meditation and brought his attention over to the entrance of the dome, where a figure stood.  He was an elderly man in a white coat, sporting a white mustache and round glasses.  When he approached Ness and Poo he hobbled over with the help of a cane. 

"Professor," Poo stood up straight and bowed at the old gentleman. "I must report the details of this mission. There were several unexpected occurrences…"

"Don't worry about that…" the old man silenced Poo with a smile and a wave. "There will be plenty of time for that. Is this he?" When he asked the question he lifted a slim, bony finger and pointed it at Ness.  Poo nodded in response.  After that he turned to Ness, piercing him once more with his dagger-like eyes. 

"I will return later," he said before turning to leave. 

Ness watched the oriental man jog briskly up the stairs, and leave through the large double doors.  Up to now, Poo had been Ness' crutch in this place, providing at least a small feeling of safety, however false, that Ness could cling to.  This man, on the other hand, gave Ness quite the opposite impression—Ness felt like this man would lead him to the edge and shove him off.

"You must be Ness." The old scientist smiled jovially while he walked over and put his old, wrinkly hand on Ness' shoulder. "Poo has told me quite a bit about you. Allow me to introduce myself…my name is Professor Andonuts. I run this place."

A slightly puzzled expression crept over Ness' features, and he looked at the Professor askance. "Andonuts? You mean…"

"Oh yes, I am Jeff's uncle. Poo told me that you mentioned him back in Fourside. Of course, he thinks I'm just an old researcher working in some far off country…" The aging scientist sat down on one of the chairs, using his cane for support as his joints creaked achingly.  After he sat he shot Ness another smile. "Forgive me, when you get on in years your body lags behind, no matter how much you want to keep going…"

Ness pulled up another chair.  He slipped his red cap off his head and began twirling it in his fingers while he stared out at the valley below. "I still don't know why I'm here," he said.

"Understandable. Permit me to explain." Professor Andonuts leaned forward and rested his arms on his cane. "You see, back in Fourside you exhibited powerful psychic abilities…abilities that not everyone has. We think you can use these abilities to help us fight against Giygas."

The brief pause told Ness that Professor Andonuts was waiting for him to say something.  Of course, both of them knew what Ness was going to say next.

"And what if I refuse?"

He really wasn't thinking of refusing, but…

The scientist's smile faltered, but did not fade.  He had handled situations like these before. "Either way, it would not be wise to go back to Fourside, would it? Not with Giygas invading it."

Ness shook his head.  No, it wouldn't make sense to go back now.  But if he stayed here, and offered his help, then maybe they would let him go back…he couldn't spend that much time thinking about it.  Cooperation was the only route that led back to Fourside…to his family.

"I'll do it."

"Thank you." Andonuts rose, albeit with difficulty, and started for the door.  He indicated for Ness to follow. "Now, I'll have someone prepare a room for you. I'll ask them to meet you here in an hour. Tomorrow you can begin training with Poo."

Ness nodded solemnly and followed the professor out of the Silent Garden.  Together they walked quietly to an elevator.  Once there Andonuts took his leave and gave Ness permission to explore the base on his own, although he still refused to comment on just _where _that was.  Frankly, Ness wasn't about to pry, since he didn't plan on staying here too long anyway.  He simply wandered the halls, getting a feel for the place.  Occasionally he'd bump into other members of SANCTUARY; some would greet him, some would stare at him, and some would merely ignore him.  Eventually Ness decided to head back to the Garden.  On his way back he passed by a small, dark room.  And that's when it hit him.

_"…find me…"_

The voice was calling out to him from that dark room.  It was different this time; for some reason Ness could all but hear it clearly, telling him that this wasn't a dream like the other times.  As Ness crept in silently he could feel that there was something different about this place…

The shadows of the dimly lit room engulfed him and disoriented him.  It was like a separate, inner space…Ness could feel a different type of vibe from this place that set it apart from the rest of the SANCTUARY base.  Once he finished stepping into the room he detected a presence not too far from him, to the right.  He was unable to tell just how he could sense this person, but a faint tingling in the back of his head indicated to him that someone was there.

"Why are you standing there in the dark? Here, let me turn on the light."

The room was suddenly flooded with light, and Ness was nearly thrown back as the sudden luminosity overcame his eyes.  He was forced to squint and shield his eyes with his arm.  Once his eyes adjusted he took a look around the strange room he had just entered.  His eyes drifted from the small stool next to him to the piano next to the far wall, then to the bed immediately to the left of that.  On the other side of the room he spotted a table with all sorts of musical instruments on it, with loose pages of sheet music scattered among them.  Then his eyes shifted to the right and he saw a large canvas.  Approaching it from a light switch on the wall, holding a painter's palette and brush, was a girl with blonde hair in a pink dress.

"Are you the boy Poo told me about? The one who was rescued from Fourside?"

Ness was speechless.  This girl…

"Paula…"

"Yes. What's your name?"

A soft ruffling accompanied Ness cap as it was pulled from his head and taken to his hands, where it began twirling. "I'm…Ness."

Paula sighed and sat next to her painting.  She examined it with the look of someone who tries to see the transcendental in the merely material. "Did I leave the door open again?"

"…yes."

"I always do that…I get carried away sometimes, especially when I paint. Would you like to see?" The girl beckoned for Ness to approach, then shifted the canvas so that he could see it.  Ness could clearly distinguish the newer, wetter swipes of the paintbrush playing with those that were already dry.  It was possible to make out certain abstract forms that were present there, but Ness' perception was unable to see anything further than that. 

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, it's great…" Ness shifted his weight uncomfortable onto his left foot. "But…why paint in the dark if you can't see anything?"

Paula closed her eyes and smiled. "When I paint in the dark I can feel the painting…I am unhindered by the subjectivities of my sight."

As if to illustrate this fact, she closed her eyes and dabbed the paintbrush on a splotch of azure that lay near the center of her palette, and then made two broad strokes.  Surprisingly, the strokes accentuated a gray area to the lower right, and complemented the overall rhythm of the work; it was as if Paula _knew _she had to paint there, somehow.  After finishing her demonstration she opened her eyes and stared dreamily at her spectator.  All Ness could do in return was stare at the beautiful girl…the girl that had been haunting his dreams for so long…

Ness was cut from his reverie by two short beeps that came from his wristwatch.  That tone could usually be heard every hour, on the hour.  That meant that…

"Oh no! I forgot! I have to go!"  Ness bolted towards the door, but not before turning to Paula and waving. "I'll see you later!"

Paula waved back. "I'll be waiting."

Fortunately, Ness' sense of direction was accurate enough that it led him back to the door of the Silent Garden.  He had to weave between crowds of people, and he almost tripped as he rounded a corner, but after a scant minute of running he was able to make it to the door.  Standing there, tapping his foot impatiently was a man with fiery-orange hair.  His grey uniform was accentuated by two red stripes ran down the left side of his shirt.  Once he caught sight of Ness he adjusted his round, dark spectacles and gave Ness a condescending look.

"You know, you're not going to get very far in this place if you're late all the time," he scoffed.  His voice had a musical, nasal quality to it. "You really should pay more attention to your surroundings."

Ness let out an exhausted huff. "I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away…"

"Yeah, whatever, I'll let it slide this time." The young man thrust his hand forward. "I'm Orange."

"Pleased to meet you." Ness took Orange's hand and shook it firmly. "I'm Ness."

Orange cracked a sly grin. "Yeah, I bet. Come on, I'll show you your room."

One hour later Ness found himself doing the one thing he never thought he'd do at a time like this.

He slept.

Oh sure, there was plenty on his mind…there was no doubt about that.  An awful lot had happened that day, and Ness couldn't even hope to comprehend half of what was happening. But at the same time he couldn't help but feel like he needed to escape for a while.  So, as soon as Orange showed him to his room, a small little cubicle equipped with a bathroom, a bed, and an intercom, he flopped down and dozed off.

For some reason Ness' room was located in the same block as that of the higher-ranking officers.  Orange didn't know why this was, but the boy could see the SANCTUARY officer's envious looks as he handed him his key card.  Unlike the other cards, which were carried around by the other officers, Ness' didn't have a picture, and the word 'GUEST' was written on the front in big, bold letters.

That was another thing that bothered Ness: why was he receiving all this special treatment? What was so special about him? Was it because of those powers? 

Whatever questions he had would have to be put on hold, at least for the moment.  Right now, Ness just wanted to sleep.  

That didn't mean that the rest of the world was asleep as well—far from it, actually.  While the technicians, officers, and commanders of SANCTUARY toiled through the evening, the valley outside began to stir.  At first it was only a weak breeze that ruffled the leaves of the trees and made a few waves in the tranquil stream.  As time went on, however, the wind began to pick up.  Soon the branches were bent back and contorted, and patches of dirt were swept away by the swirling wind.  The clouds overhead drew closer to each other; when they fused into one enormous mass of cumulus they met with the wind and began to spin.  The grass rustled, the trees groaned, the water splashed, and even the very earth seemed to cower in fear.  Then, just as the clouds formed into a funnel and headed for the human base, uprooting trees and hurling them towards a glass dome…

Ness' eyes fluttered open, and he looked at his surroundings.  He could hear a faint, blaring alarm in the distance, and the white light that shone in his room was interrupted by intermittent flashes of deep red.  He could hear the sound of rushing footsteps outside his apartment, as well as shouts and the brouhaha of rushed, panicked conversation.

The sound of a ringing phone called out to Ness from a small intercom placed on the wall, near the bed.  Ness turned to examine the thing and found a small, green, flashing button, which he pressed.  Suddenly the tiny screen on the intercom flashed on to display a symbol with the words "Sound Only" superimposed on it. 

"Hey, kid, you hear me?" Poo's voice was grainy and filled with static. 

"Yeah." Ness cleared his throat. "What's going on? What's with the alarm?"

There was a slight pause before Poo answered. "It's Giygas. There's a huge tornado attacking the base. Stay in your room until we figure this out, okay?"

"Sure…" With those last words the intercom shut off, leaving Ness to stare at the wall while the base thrived around him.  There was nothing he could do, after all.  He had been here less than a day…he didn't even know where he _was_.

Unfortunately, Fate was not content with leaving Ness in that room, sitting quietly until the whole thing literally blew over.  He still had something he had to do…

Ness' pupils dilated to indicate the presence of something abnormal near his location.  Curious as to what it was this time, Ness rose and opened the door to his room, then poked his head out and looked around.  When he did, he saw a piece of pink cloth disappear around the corner to his right.

_Paula. Ness immediately ran out of his room and chased after Paula.  Inexplicably, she managed to stay ahead of Ness, even though he was running.  Every time he rounded a corner he could see Paula already going around the next, or walking through a door.  Eventually the chase led to a dead end.  _

Ness skidded to a stop in front of the large double doors that led to the Silent Garden.  He hadn't seen Paula go through this door, but there was no way she could have gone anywhere else.  Ness quickly fumbled for his ID card, which he slashed through the terminal next to the wall.  The terminal beeped compliantly and the doors slid open, ushering Ness inside.

He had to plant a hand on his red baseball cap to prevent if from flying off while he shielded his face with his other arm.  The tornado had uprooted three large trees from the nearby valley and had used them to hammer on the thick glass of the dome that covered the garden, shattering it.  The phenomenon almost looked like it had a mind of its own, for it had soon demolished the glass dome.  Ness had to step over the thousands of glass shards and metal girders that remained after Giygas tore a hole in the dome, and the wind slowed his progress almost to a stop.  The bridge had been torn down, so he had to wade across the stream to make it to where Paula was. 

"Paula!! What are you doing?!" Ness leaned forward in an effort to make headway against the wind.  His cries were all but lost on the girl, who did nothing but stare at the white tornado snaking across the black night sky.  Her dress and hair flailed about wildly, but she seemed not to notice.

The wind was growing stronger with each passing second.  Suddenly Ness and Paula were thrown to the floor by a strong gust of wind.  Ness' cap was blown and hurled to the far end of the garden, near the entrance, while the red ribbon in Paula's hair came undone, letting her hair flow freely.  

The doors of the garden opened once more to reveal Poo, who tried to run over to where the children were.  The tornado was now dangerously close to touching the base, and it looked like the agent would be unable to make it over to them and out of there in time.  

Ness looked over at Paula, who lay on the ground, unconscious.  He too was struggling against the storm, but it looked like he would lose that battle any second now.  The wind was making it hard to keep his eyes open, and the violent gusts threatened to knock him down, or worse, suck him up to the tornado, where he'd surely meet his end. 

No…he couldn't let that happen yet.  He wasn't about to capitulate before he got back to Fourside, at least one last time…

Ness rose to his feet and stood in front of Paula, blocking her from the storm.  He seemed surprisingly calm now…he felt detached, distant from the whole situation.  It felt just like the last time…and then it clicked.

Ness' hands shot up and extended in front of him.  As the white tornado got within a few paces of where he was, an invisible force pushed against it.  The tornado began to struggle against the force, which was now repelling it, expelling it from the garden.  Ness' mouth dropped open with the effort, and soon he began to scream.  Giygas was slowly winning the struggle against Ness' psychokinetic powers, and the effort was draining Ness of all the energy he had. 

"Don't fight it…don't let it consume you…"

Paula's slender hand poised itself on Ness' shoulder.  She was fully awake now, but her eyes were glossed over, as if she was in a trance.

"Do not struggle…only by balancing its force with your own can you make it go away…"

Ness' breath came out in short, ragged bursts now.  His whole body felt sore.  Paula's words rang in his ears, and soon he stopped pushing.  The storm, its vigor renewed, tried to squeeze in through the opening in the dome, but its progress was suddenly halted.  Ness's eyes were closed, and his energy managed to calm the air around him.  The calm eventually reached the storm, and the violent clouds began to disperse.  Soon enough the entire tornado disappeared, and the sky cleared to reveal the stars.  Ness dropped to his knees, and then fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" Poo rushed over to Ness' prone figure and checked for a pulse.  When he found it he hoisted the boy up in his arms, giving Paula a concerned look all the while. "What were you doing out here? You could have gotten killed!"

Paula smiled and shook her head. "I knew everything would be alright if he was here," she said, obviously referring to Ness. "But now you're here too. Would you like for me to accompany you to the infirmary?"

Poo looked at Ness dirtied face and sighed.  This was the second time he had seen the boy perform nearly-miraculous feats of power; that couldn't be a coincidence, not by a long shot. 

"Yeah, sure. Let's go." Paula and Poo walked side by side towards the double doors.  On the way there, Paula spotted Ness' cap, sitting under a piece of rubble.  She picked it up, dusted it off, and then clutched it in her hands.  

"Hey Paula, are you coming? This kid's heavy!"

The girl turned to Poo, who was standing outside the room.

"Yes! I am coming…"

Before she exited the room she took one last look at the starry night sky and smiled placidly.  Then she skipped up to Poo and grabbed his arm as he escorted her to the infirmary.


	3. 3rd Revolution: Linearity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=3rd Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Linearity::_**

****

****

"Hey, I'm not done with that yet!"

"You should have been done with it ten minutes ago! This is work time!"

"But I wasn't able to eat my entire breakfast!"

"That's 'cuz you slept in, again!"

"Fine, fine…man, you're such a meanie, Orange…"

"Only when you don't pull your weight, Apple."

Orange placed the half-eaten candy bar on the counter and turned back to the console while his companion, a chubby copper-top named Apple, made puppy-dog eyes at him.  That didn't really get him anywhere, and soon the technician turned to his workstation as well. 

The room they were currently in was divided in two: the first and smallest part was the control console, where Apple and Orange were.  The second half was, in actuality, much larger, and was nothing more than a white room with a couple of chairs and tables.  Sitting in the center, on a plain mat, was Ness, legs placed Indian-style.  His eyes were closed and his hands rested on his knees. 

"Okay, it's time to get started," Orange muttered to himself.  He leaned over and grabbed the microphone to his right.  As he spoke his voice echoed through the room on the other side of the sound-isolated window.

"Hey Ness, we're about ready for the psychic resonance test now. How you feeling?"

Ness' eyes fluttered open.  When he spoke he did not look up. "I'm ready when you are."

"Okay then. Mr. Apple, if you would be so kind…and stop trying to eat behind my back!"

Apple held the candy bar, which he had stealthily arrested, mere centimeters from his open mouth.  When Orange scolded him he covered the treat in its foil wrapping and put it in his pocket.  Reluctantly he turned to the console and input some commands through the keyboard, then pushed a small lever next to him. "Schumann preset configured and in place. Psychic resonance sphere active at 40% augmentation. I'm ready when you are."

Orange nodded and turned back to the microphone. "All right, Ness, let's begin. This is the usual drill, so you know what to do."

Ness nodded and closed his eyes, then took a deep breath.  After a few seconds of silence the table next to him began to vibrate rapidly.  Soon after it lifted roughly off the ground and was heaved across the room, then set down gently by an invisible force.  The chairs soon befell a similar fate.  After a few minutes of rattles, screeches, and bumps, the furniture in the room reconfigured itself so that it was the exact mirror image of what it was before.  Ness opened his eyes after finishing his first test and peered up at the window.

"Good…psychokinetic centers of the I.B. are working fine." Orange leaned back and took a look at the small screen in front of him, which displayed a spectrographic analysis of Ness' brain.  The 'brain' was a flat, blue circle, and a series of jutting, multicolored spikes represented Ness' brain activity.  At the time a particularly large spike came out of the upper left quadrant of Ness' I.B.

"Okay…next we'll do a check-up on your telepathic abilities. Remember how this goes?"

"You hold up the cards and I try to guess the correct one, right?"

"Right. Let's begin." Orange reached under his chair and pulled out a set of large, plastic cards with several basic shapes on them.  He spread them out in his hands, after which he showed them face down to Apple, who plucked one and hid it from view.  This process was repeated four more times, until the entire deck had been taken from Orange's hands.  Silently, Orange shifted back to the microphone and held it up. "Okay. Your turn."

Ness nodded. "The first one is a star." 

Apple nodded and held up the first card he picked so everyone could see it. "Check."

"The next one is a circle. Then comes a square and a triangle. The last one is a diamond…"

Twenty minutes later Ness found himself sitting in the SANCTUARY cafeteria in front of Apple, who was scarfing down his lunch happily.  Ever since the attack on Fourside Ness had found that his appetite was not what it used to be, and seeing Apple ingest the quantities of food that he did made him extremely conscious of that fact.  The idle chit-chat that made up most of the hour involved Apple explaining the details of the latest experiment, complaining about Orange, or both.  Either way, Ness was quiet most of the time.

"…so _then I decide to reverse the feed on the machine, but Orange gets all, 'what the hell are you doing, you'll ruin everything,' and I'm like, 'but I did my research, I know this is correct,' and he tells me to get out of his way before I make him look bad! Can you believe it?"_

Ness nodded quietly and nibbled at the corner of the sandwich in his hand.  He understood that Apple was merely venting, and that, in truth, he and Orange were actually good friends. 

After finishing his lunch and bidding goodbye to Apple, Ness headed to the Silent Garden, where he knew he'd find Poo, who was supervising the reconstruction and fortification of the dome.  The Garden itself now looked like a ruined temple of sorts, with debris littered all over the landscape.  

"Ah, Ness," Poo gestured for Ness to come closer as soon as he saw the boy enter the room. "I've been meaning to talk to you. It's about the incident the other day." He was obviously referring to the attack that destroyed the room they inhabited currently. 

Ness gave the agent a shrug. "I told you pretty much all I know," he mused. "Besides, I kind of blacked out once Paula showed up."

"Really? You never told me that…"

"I didn't think it was important. It isn't really, is it?"

"…probably not. Still, be careful next time." Poo stopped and yelled a few orders to the reconstruction crew, then turned back to Ness. "By the way, Paula said she wanted to see you."

Ness' meetings with Paula were characterized by an odd, uncomfortable silence that dominated most of the time he was with her.  He usually went to her room whenever he received a request for him to do so, but Paula would normally be preoccupied with something whenever he arrived.  Today she was busy playing the piano.

Ness took off his cap and sat down on the piano bench next to the girl.  Her punctuated silence spoke volumes, and Ness new not to interrupt her before she finished, at which point she acknowledged his presence.  After that they spoke for a while about this and that (mostly about Ness, since Paula disliked revealing her private thoughts).

"Do you have any pictures of yourself when you were younger?" Paula floated the question towards Ness with the tact of a butterfly.  It was so unexpected that Ness failed to realize how completely irrelevant it was. 

"No…at least not here. Do you?"

"Only one." Paula pointed to a small picture frame on her nightstand, and Ness instinctively went over to it.  The picture looked like it had been taken several years ago; Paula looked about ten years younger that she did now.  The only thing visible besides Paula's infantile form, which was dressed in a yellow dress, was a flower garden in the background.  Ness held the picture up to his eyes and scrutinized it, while he ran his fingertip over the small scar on Paula's forehead.

"I don't remember when it was taken," mused Paula, who had sidled up to Ness. "I can't remember who took it, either."

"That was ten years ago…it's alright if you can't remember," replied Ness.  He put the picture back on the table, and then turned to Paula. "At least you have it…isn't that enough?"

Paula was about to utter a response when the lights flickered in her room.  Both she and Ness stopped their exchange to look up at the ceiling, and then back down once the lights stabilized. 

"What was that?" Ness asked, more to himself than anyone else. "Do you think something's wrong with the generators? Paula…Paula?"

Ness caught sight of Paula's ribbon as it followed its wearer out the door.  She had left so silently that Ness was unable to hear her.  Instinctively Ness sprinted towards the door and ran towards Paula, who was walking quickly.

"Hey, wait!" Ness stepped in front of the girl and planted his arms on her shoulders, shaking her slightly.  Surprisingly, Paula's glassy eyes regained focus and gazed timidly at the boy. 

"What happened? Is there something wrong?"

Ness furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I…don't know," he said blankly. "You just left and…your eyes were so different…"

"Really? I didn't notice anything unusual…"

Ness released his grip on Paula's shoulders and relaxed, taking a deep breath as he did so.  Something about this was not right…it was just like the last time.  Was Giygas attacking again? If so, why? And why did Paula go into a trance every time he was near?

"Stay here," commanded Ness, turning away. "Don't go out of your room, understand?"

Paula tilted her head to the side. "I do not comprehend. Is there something wrong occurring in SANCTUARY?"

"Maybe. That's why I'm going to check it out, but you have to stay here, okay?"

"If you insist…I will do as you say. Good luck."

With those last words Ness bolted towards the hallway that led to the central office.  Surely he'd be able to find Professor Andonuts there, or maybe Poo; then they'd be able to clear up whatever was happening.  Sure enough, after opening the doors to the C-Block hallway, he saw the familiar black ponytail and piercing eyes.

"It's another Giygas attack, confirmed," said Poo as he ran, with Ness trailing behind. "It manifested in the machine room and put the generators offline. That's why the power went out while the emergency power supply kicked in."

"So what do you think it'll be this time?" asked Ness between heaving breaths.  Psychic power or not, his physique was still nowhere near that of Poo's.

"We're about to find out."

Poo came to a halt in front of the service elevator and activated it with his keycard.  The large platform soon came up to meet him, and he stepped on wordlessly.  Naturally, Ness followed, and within a minute the platform rumbled to a halt and the metal bars slid apart, revealing the generator room.

It was odd that, despite Giygas' nature as a _chaotic being, its most recent incarnation seemed like a well-oiled, it somewhat dirty and disheveled, machine.  Giygas had torn nearly every machine in the room apart and used them to build a mechanical monstrosity.  It had two left arms and one right arm, and two asymmetrical legs that shuffled along the metallic floor when it walked.  The closest thing it had to a head was a protruding stump from the torso that trembled with uncontrolled fury._

"Oh man…" Ness' pupils dilated.  This manifestation felt different from the others.  It wasn't easy to put it into words, but…it almost seemed like this creature had its own will…

"Go get help! I'll stay here and keep it busy!" Poo snapped Ness out of his reverie while he pointed his outstretched palm at Giygas.  The monster wasn't advancing on them yet, but the agent knew that eventually there would be a fight.  At least by getting the kid out of the way he wouldn't have to worry about him getting hurt.

"What are you waiting for? That's an order! Go outside and use the communicator to call for help!"

"But…"

Ness was about to protest when Giygas hefted its huge right arm and brought it down on the very spot where the two humans were.  Poo leapt to the side and grabbed Ness' arm in time to heave them both to safety, then jumped to his feet and put up his fists.  He shot Ness one last look before sprinting towards the monster.

Giygas raised its two left arms and swiped horizontally at the lithe human in front of him, only to hit nothing but air.  Poo landed on one of the extremities and used it as a ramp to run up to the body, at which point he thrust out his hands.  The very air around Giygas' head rippled and shrieked, then ripped the head from the torso, eliciting a gurgled scream.  Poo slid his hands to the side, using his telekinetic powers to hurl the head to the side, and then used another psychic wave to topple the creature.  He landed nimbly on the floor before shooting a look at the elevator.  Fortunately, it was gone.

_Good boy. A smile crept across Poo's features. _Get going…__

His attention was drawn back to the machine-Giygas, which had just recovered from the blow.  The broken mass of machinery had reintegrated its head and was now rapidly charging towards him.

_Let's see how I fare against it this time._

Ness practically forced the doors to the elevator open too soon and bolted towards the node just outside.  After fumbling for his card and sliding it through the reader, he punched a button and brought up the communication menu.  When presented with the list of available recipients he pushed one at random, hoping it would be someone who could help him out of this mess.

"This is Research, Apple speaking," the chubby scientist's voice rang out over the intercom.  Not surprisingly, he was eating, and there were crumbs littering his chest. 

"Apple! It's me, Ness! I need help…we found Giygas and Poo's fighting it in the machine room!"

"What?! Oh no…" Apple dropped his food and grabbed his computer.  As he typed he shot a look at Ness through the communications screen. "Listen, stay put, okay? I'm already sending out an alert to the other troops, they should be there soon enough. Just stay there, okay?"

Ness heard a deafening crash from the machine room and his stomach plunged.  What if the troops couldn't get here soon enough?

Meanwhile, the machine room was rocked again by a second impact.  Broken pieces of machinery lay sprawled along the floor oozing black oil.  Mixed in with the oil were drops of red.

Poo clutched his right arm, which hung limp at his side.  His breath came in short rasps, and his clothes were in tatters.  He had dismembered the machine-Giygas several times over, only to have it regenerate and rebuild itself at the expense of the generators in the room, all of which were heaps of scrap by now.  Poo knew he had been outlasted, but he still clung to the possible arrival of backup troops.  It was getting hard to stand, though…

Poo managed to dodge one final swipe, but his footing was less than stellar and he collided with the wall.  This gave Giygas the opening it needed, and with a roar it charged up the slanted elevator shaft.  Poo could only watch as he struggled to his feet.

_It's going for the main hall…__Ness_!__

Ness took a step back as something pounded on the elevator door from inside and made a dent in the metal doors.  That meant that Giygas had gotten past Poo, and it was only a matter of seconds before the monster bust out and went for him.  Frantically Ness opened up the intercom again and called Apple.

"Ness! Are the troops there yet?"

"Apple, it's here! I've only got a few seconds before it busts out! I need to _do something!"_

"Oh no…" Apple's brow furrowed. "The troops are still at least five minutes away…what do we do?"

Ness was jolted by another blow to the door.  This time the doors creaked in agony.  One more blow would do them in. 

"I've got it!" Apple's voice screeched over the communicator. "It's a long shot, but if you can lead it to the research room where we conduct our tests, we might have a shot. Got it?"

Ness nodded nervously.  As soon as Apple closed the communication there was one final pound and Ness saw a mechanical claw reach out from the elevator shaft.  Soon enough the creature emerged from the machine room and Ness took off for the laboratory as fast as his legs could carry him.

After signaling to Strong that Giygas had been diverted to the laboratory, Apple turned on his console and began typing at it frantically.  Orange, who was watching from the sidelines, peered over his shoulder in order to get a good look at the screen.

"The psychic resonance sphere's at 60% augmentation! You're going to kill him like that!"

"I know what I'm doing," replied Apple harshly.  He typed a few more commands into the console and brought up a dimmed diagram of the Inverted Brain diagram from before. "According to this, his mental processes should even out at anything over 50% augmentation."

"It's too risky!"

"I know that! But Ness is being chased by that thing and this is the only way out."

Orange gave a shrug and sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win," he said.  He sat back down at his own console and booted it up, then began typing.  Apple glanced at him. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm _helping, obviously. What's it look like?"_

Apple shook his head nervously. "Um…okay. Thanks."

Orange chuckled to himself. "As long as we're going to trash the research lab, we could at least do it right. Now," he cracked his knuckles dramatically and began typing. "Let's make some fireworks!"

Ness was now almost to the research room door, the mechanical giant hot on his heels.  At that point there was no time to fumble around with a keycard, so Ness did the only thing he could really think of: he used a psychokinetic wave to knock down the door and a good part of the outer wall.  Hoping against hope that he'd be safe, Ness rushed in and nearly tripped over the tables in the research room.

"Ness!" Apple grabbed the microphone and nearly yelled into it as Ness turned to face the hole in the wall.  Giygas was clawing at the hole in an attempt to force his way in.

"Listen to me! When I give you the word I want you to blast that thing with all you've got!" This time it was Orange who spoke. "It's the only way we're getting through this!"

Ness glanced at the control booth and nodded wordlessly.  Slowly he steadied himself and called forth his powers, just like he had that very morning.  He saw Giygas finally make his way through and lunge, but he didn't move.  Everything was erased, everything except for Giygas, the control booth, and him.  All he had to do was wait for Apple's signal…

Apple completed his calculations and hit a final key on his keyboard. "Now!"

Ness let out a feral scream and put both hands forward, pushing with everything he had.  The walls began to vibrate under the force; the very foundations of the base were rocked.  Apple and Orange were knocked to the floor as the glass on the booth shattered.

Giygas was halted in mid-lunge, and every gear in its body strain.  Its claws opened in desperation and its monstrous legs gripped at the floor, tearing it.  Its arms made their way slowly towards Ness' neck, trying to squeeze the life out of him even before they touched; every second was pure agony.  The claws came closer and closer to the screaming boy, until they quivered with anticipation.  Then they were blown to pieces, and Giygas' body was hurled back.  The monster was ripped into a million pieces, each hurled in a different direction.  There was nothing left.

Apple brushed the glass shards off his back and climbed to his feet.  Orange had been hit in the head with a stray piece of debris and was unconscious.  Slowly, almost incredulously, the scientist surveyed his surroundings.  He couldn't see or hear the machine monster anymore.  That meant that Ness was…

"Oh no…Ness!"

Apple ran to the door connecting the booth and the research room and tried to force it open.  After a few kicks the door simply fell to the floor, unhinged, and Apple ran through to Ness, who had fallen to the floor.  Blood was flowing from his ears.

So it came to pass that SANCTUARY had to rebuild its facilities for the second time ever, and only a few days after the first.  The base had to live without power for two days until the main generators were up and running again, and the research program was all but cancelled due to the fact that the research laboratory had been destroyed.  That was nothing, however, compared to the injuries sustained by two SANCTUARY agents, and one teenage boy…

"How are you feeling?"

"…I'll live. I can't say the same for the kid, though…he'll be out for days, and even then it's going to take some time for him to recover."

Professor Andonuts lowered his rickety frame carefully onto a chair next to Poo's bed in the infirmary.  The agent's arm was in a sling, and several different machines of varying size and function beeped, hissed, and whirled placidly to indicate that he would live another day.  

"If I were you I'd be more worried about myself." The comment had been floated not as a reprimand but as a sort of signal for the agent to count his own blessings; although Ness was in far worse shape than he, there was no time for Poo to worry about anyone other than himself.

"You know, since the base has been destroyed we're putting everything on hold for a while."

Poo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? What if there's another attack?"

The professor chuckled heartily. "Then, my dear boy, we run away."

"Typical…"

Suddenly the professor's eyes lit up and he reached into the pocket of his coat. "That reminds me…there's something I want to show you." The bony hand came out of the coat pocket with a dirtied sheet of paper in it.  Poo watched his commander unfold the paper and place it on the bed, at which point he picked it up and held it in front of him.

"It's a rubbing of the Scaraban tablet we…acquired…from the Fourside museum last week."

Poo nodded; he didn't need the explanation to know what it was.  Immediately his eyes focused on a particular set of glyphs which had been circled with a red marker.  He held out the paper so that the professor could see.

"And what are these?"

"Those," said Andonuts, who plucked the paper from Poo's hand and put it in his pocket once more. "Those…are the second part of the Message."

Poo said nothing; he knew more than anyone what the Message was, and why it was capitalized.  

"So what does it say?"

Professor Andonuts leaned on his cane.  He had committed the Message to memory.  The researcher then took a deep breath:

_"We slew the giant of the sky_

_But his essence remained;_

_We hid him in our pyramid._

_We know he will be set free once_

_Time destroys our people_

_For his is an immortal soul_

Poo had heard the first part of the Message before; Professor Andonuts recited it regularly, and the agent could have very well done that in his place.  But he knew not to interrupt, and instead let the researcher continue.

_"When our calendar will expire,_

_At the turning point between_

_The first and the second era.___

_So it has been written by us;_

_So this too shall come to pass._

_The future will be in our hands."_

Poo's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.  Incredulously he stared at his elderly friend, who had cast his gaze downward. "That last verse is…the same as what's written in the ancient prophesies of my home land…" There was a curt nod of confirmation. "The Dalaamese prophecy and the second part of the Message fit, word for word. Of course, if that's the case…" Andonuts raised his gaze once more. "Then you know the rest of what I'm about to say." Poo's eyes wandered from the commander's wrinkled face to his hand, which lay on his lap.  Slowly his lips parted and spoke, almost mechanically, the words that he had learned when he was young:_"When the chosen boy reaches the _point___, he will find the light.__The passing of time will shatter."_The nightmare rock will reveal the ___path__ of light…"Andonuts nodded. __"…and then we will begin …"__ Finally both men locked eyes, and the words flowed from their mouths in soft, whispered chorus. __"The revolution…" _


	4. 4th Revolution: Proximity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=Fourth Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Proximity::_**

****

****

"I don't get it."

The old professor let out a sigh and tightened the grip on his cane. "Neither do I, Kai. Neither do I."

The odd pair was standing just outside the door that led into Ness' room in the sick bay of SANCTUARY headquarters.  Professor Andonuts held a medical chart in his hand, which he read over and over, carefully, in case some detail might have escaped him that would explain everything to him.

"His recovery time has been halved since he was first brought here. At this rate, he'll be as good as new _weeks before he's even supposed to be able to wake up."_

"Yes, this is indeed remarkable," replied the Professor. "But not altogether unsurprising. His psychic abilities are more formidable than once thought."

He turned to leave, but not before he glanced once more at Poo. "Has my nephew been found yet?"

Poo nodded. "No. We have a team searching for him, but Fourside is a big place. The fact that it's in ruins doesn't help matters."

"I can ask for nothing more." The Professor walked away, the tip of his cane making dull, echoing noises in the white hallway. "Thank you, Poo."

Being unconscious for a long time makes the brain play funny tricks on the head.  Ness was all too familiar with these mental shenanigans, as they had happened in his head quite a few times in the past month or so.  At first, when he would awaken, he could only see a swirl of colors that felt painful to watch and made his head spin.  Then his vision would clear up, but he would have a hard time knowing where he was.  After that, something unexpected would usually happen to him to complicate matters even further.

"Ah! You are awake!"

In this case, that 'something' was Paula.

Ness sat up and clutched at his aching head, which was covered with a white bandage.  He barely even noticed that he was completely nude under the thin white sheet that was casually draped over the bottom half of his body; Paula did not indicate in any way that she minded, although she obviously noticed.

"How long have I been out?" The words that left Ness' mouth were rough and raspy.  He had barely said them when he felt the uncontrollable urge to clear his throat loudly. 

Paula straitened an invisible wrinkle on her yellow dress. "A week," she said plainly. "You woke up much sooner than expected."

The white sheets shuffled to one side as Ness sat up, raised his knees and hugged them. "I'm lucky I woke up, aren't I," he asked simply.  Paula tilted her head to one side, replying silently that she did not know how to answer that question.  Ness did not ask her to.

"So what's happened while I've been out?"

"Nothing, really. I finished a painting. If you like I can show it to you sometime."

Ness smiled. "Thanks," he said.  As he looked at her, he noticed that she looked exactly like she did when he saw her in one of his dreams, back in Fourside.

"Hey, Paula? Have you ever had dreams…about somebody before you knew them?"

The girl cocked her head to the other side. "How do you mean? Something like clairvoyance?"

"Sort of." The boy hugged his knees a little tighter. "Like, you dream about somebody, but you don't know them yet…and you know their name, and their face, but you don't know who or where they are…and then one day, poof, you meet them. Sort of like that."

"Has that happened to you?"

"Yeah." Ness sighed. "A little while ago."

Paula blinked twice. "Did you dream about me?"

Ness' eyes went wide. "I…I don't…" Finally he calmed down.

"I don't remember."

Paula rose from her seat next to Ness' hospital bed and headed for the door. "You will eventually. In the meantime, I'll help you remember. Just make sure that the next time we meet, you are somewhat more…_presentable."_

Ness hadn't noticed what she meant with that until he looked down and found himself stark naked.  His face became red and he hauled the white sheet over his body and up to his nose for protection. 

"She could have warned me…"

ONE WEEK LATER

"You sure you up to this? You're still not fully recovered."

Ness looked as seriously as he could manage into Poo's piercing eyes. "I've been cooped up in this base for way too long. I don't care if you send me outside for coffee; I just need to _get out."_

Poo set down his cup of tea and looked across the small table at Professor Andonuts, who was still sipping on his cup thoughtfully and looking through the glass dome at the exterior of the Silent Garden. "What do you think, Professor? Should we let him go out?"

The old man set his cup down. "I believe," he mused while rubbing the tip of his cane. "Our young protégé is right. He has been 'cooped up'—as you so fondly put it, Ness—for far too long. You may leave on a mission soon."

Ness' face lit up. "Really? Thanks a lot, Professor!"

Before he could get _too excited, though, the old man raised his hand. "However, this mission will be short and not very trying physically. Keep that in mind."_

"I will," replied Ness.  He stood from his seat, bid his companions farewell, and ran out of the Silent Garden, leaving the agent and the elder alone.

"Are you sure about this?" Poo put his cup on the saucer in front of him and pushed it away. "He might have healed quickly, but he's still not ready for action."

"Relax, old friend," replied Professor Andonuts with a smile. "Like I said, he won't be doing much. Tomorrow is the 30th, after all…"

Poo looked to the side. "We're in April, which is an even month, so…"

Suddenly a small smile crept over his face and he leaned back, crossing his arms. "Oh. I see."

Nearly twenty-four hours later Ness, Paula, and Poo were entering the SANCTUARY hangar and heading for a small Sky Runner.  Ness had been here once before, briefly, when he first arrived at the base.  This was the first time he had a chance to really look the place over, though.

Unlike the rest of the base, the hangar was large.  _Very large.  It was barely possible to see from one end of it to the other, especially with all the Sky Runners, flying saucers of various shapes and sizes, covering the view.  Some seemed ethereal, illuminated in the otherwise dark hangar by beams of light that filtered in through the small windows on the walls, near the ceiling.  Ness was almost unable to stop admiring a large, olive green Sky Runner that looked like it was built for battle. _

"This is the one." Poo's voice tugged at Ness' attention and focused it on a normal, grey Sky Runner on a raised, circular platform.  It was a lot like the one that had taken him from Fourside in the first place.

Poo opened the hatch and held out his hand for Paula, who shifted the picnic basket dangling from her arm to her hand, accepted the agent's help, and stepped inside.  After that he held the door for Ness.

"So where are we going, anyway?" Ness had been waiting all day for the perfect moment to ask that question.  Poo simply smiled in response and took out his sunglasses from the pocket in his sleeve.

"You ever been to Threed?" He asked as he slipped them on, despite the darkness in the hangar.  Ness shook his head.

"Well, you will now."

The flying saucer landed with the soft hiss as the hydraulic suspenders in the legs touched down on the soft, wet soil just outside a suburban neighborhood in Threed.  As the engine powered down the door slid open and three figures emerged.  Paula immediately took the lead and skipped merrily towards a medium-sized, green house in the distance.  Ness and Poo walked at a brisk pace behind her.

"Paula's parents live here," explained Poo. "On the 30th of every even month Paula goes to visit them for the day. The exceptions are February, where the visit is on the 28th, and December, where she can visit her parents for the entire month due to Christmas and the New Year."

Ness looked down as his feet left the soft soil and stepped on warm pavement. "So why so strict? Why can't she just go home whenever she wants to?"

Poo turned to stare at Ness.  Fortunately the agent's sunglasses protected Ness from his piercing gaze. "It's complicated. Paula's psychic powers need to be studied and kept in check constantly. Otherwise…" he paused.

"Otherwise what?"

"We're here!" Paula hummed to herself happily as she reached the fence around the house and opened up, strolling to the porch and the front door.  She knocked happily on the white door, and it opened almost immediately to reveal a blonde, middle-aged woman that looked remarkably like Paula herself.

"Oh, you're early!" The woman embraced Paula, who hugged her mother in return. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour!"

As the woman led Paula inside a man came out.  His bushy, black mustache wiggled up and down as he looked Poo over.  After a moment he extended his hand. "Hello, Agent Poo. How was the trip here?"

The agent shook Paula's father's hand, and then bowed in reverence. "Blissfully uneventful. And as I have said before, please call me Kai."

Paula's father laughed. "You never change, do you?" Just then the man spotted Ness, who had taken off his red cap and held it behind his back. "And who's this?"

Ness stepped forward. "My name's Ness…" he said, then added a curt, "Um…sir." He attempted to make eye contact, but failed miserably. "I'm a new recruit at SANCTUARY."

Paula's father smiled. "You're a friend of Paula's then."

"Yes sir."

The man patted Ness on the back and led him to the door. "Well, any friend of Paula's is welcome here! Come on in, we have some snacks ready for you!"

As Ness and Poo walked inside, the former snickered at the latter:

"Can _I call you Kai?"_

"No."

The inside of Paula's house was decorated with bland, unobtrusive paintings and normal-looking furniture.  The living room, which had a couch and two chairs, besides the coffee table, had a large window that looked out into the street.  At the moment the curtains were open, and the living room was flooded with light.

Ness and Poo sat on the two chairs, opposite each other, while Paula took a seat between her parents on the couch.  If she was any happier than she looked, it was hard to tell.

With that arrangement in place, they conversed.  Paula's parents asked the usual questions about what she was doing, how she was feeling, and whether she was happy at SANCTUARY.  Poo added comments where it was appropriate, especially when the conversation hovered over the topic of Paula's activities in SANCTUARY.  Paula's parents eventually asked about Poo's well being, and even inquired as to Ness' life and what he was doing in SANCTUARY.  However, they always tried to steer the conversation away from the topics of psychic powers, or even worse, the attack on Fourside.

After an hour of conversation Ness decided that he needed to use the restroom, and he excused himself.  He walked out of the living room and to a small hallway on the first floor, which ended in a wooden door.  Along the way he spotted a few pictures hanging on the wall.  One in particular, a photograph of a family in front of a yellow house caught his attention, and he stopped to admire it. 

The family was obviously Paula's, albeit much younger; Paula's father had no grey hairs, and her mother was much less wrinkled.  Paula was around the same age as the picture she had in SANCTUARY headquarters.  The house was very different from the one he was in now; it was probably in another town.  

Ness was about to leave the picture alone when he spotted a small detail on the picture.  Instinctively he ran his finger over the spot on the picture, just where Paula's forehead was, although he couldn't quite place what was wrong.  The picture of Paula just seemed _off _somehow.

"You looking for something?"

Poo's voice startled Ness out of his admiration, and he nearly tripped over himself. "N-no! I was just…looking at this picture…"

The agent took off his sunglasses and inspected the picture. "It's Paula and her family, from when they were still living in Twoson, a town not too far from here."

Ness glanced at the picture again.  That nagging feeling that something was wrong remained. "Something's weird about this picture, but I can't tell what," he mused. "It's like an error…"

"Your eyes are playing tricks on you," said Poo. "It's nothing. By the way, the food's just about done, so if you're gonna go to the bathroom, hurry up."

Ness shot one last furtive glance at the picture. "Yeah…sure."

It was dusk by the time the meal had been finished.  Of course, the usual pleasant conversation permeated the atmosphere, but Ness' mind kept heading back to the picture on the wall.  It was gnawing at him like a pest, and it bothered him.

"So what are your plans once you get back to the base?" Ness had been so distracted that he almost didn't notice that Paula's mother was talking to him.

Ness smiled sheepishly. "Well, I still have to recover completely from the accident I had a week ago…"

"Really? What happened?"

Ness was about to reply truthfully when he caught sight of Poo's eyes boring into his.  Poo had said nothing, but his intentions were quite clear to Ness.

_Right._ Ix-nay on the psychic owers-pay. _"I, uh…fell down exercising. I, um…hit my head. Concussion."_

"That sounds horrible! Are you all right?"

Ness rubbed at the back of his head pointedly. "I'll manage…"

Paula's parents chuckled to themselves while Ness grinned nervously.  Poo slipped his sunglasses back on, and Paula stared out the window. 

Just outside two children were playing with a small, translucent plastic ball.  Inside the ball was a hamster, not much larger than a golf ball.  It was rolling around placidly until Paula spotted it, at which point it stopped dead and looked straight at Paula…

The girl rose from her seat and stepped up to the window, innocuous to her mother's voice, asking her what was wrong.  She placed both hands against the glass and began pushing, softly at first, but with greater resolve as the seconds passed.  Her lips were parted slightly and her breathing was becoming irregular.

"Paula, what's wrong?" Ness rose from his seat and stood beside Paula. "Are you feeling okay?"

Then he spotted the hamster.  It was now growing rapidly until it burst out of its ball, scaring the children that were playing with it.  Soon after it began to mutate; claws sprung from its paws, the tip of its tail split in two, and the fur became matted.  Its eyes turned blood red and its teeth became jagged.  It was now the size of a very large dog.

Ness' pupils dilated. "Oh no…"

The monster lunged for Paula, breaking through the window.  Ness barely had time to grab Paula and pull her down moments before the creature broke in and landed on the coffee table, breaking it, and then skidded into the larger table and knocked it over, breaking the dishes and shattering the glass.  Poo jumped out of his chair and balled his fists, while Paula's mother shrieked.  Her husband quickly pulled her into his arms for protection.

The monster made another lunge at Paula, but Ness hauled her out of the way and the creature slammed into the wall, knocking loose one of its teeth.  The creature whined in pain, but soon another tooth shot out of its mandible and it continued the chase. 

Poo grabbed the thing by the tail and heaved, effectively throwing it out of the house and into the street, where it landed on its feet close to the two children playing with it earlier.  Poo jumped out after it, landing on the pavement outside with a graceful flip.  He whipped his head around and pointed at the children.

"Go home! Now!!"

As the two children ran away, Ness hopped outside as well and caught up with the agent, who was being circled viciously by the creature.

The creature broke off from its previous quarry and tried to scramble back into the house, but Poo caught it with a wave of psychokinetic power.  He put out his palm and dug his feet into the ground while the creature struggled to break free, but the psychic won and hurled the monster away.  It crashed into a lamp post across the street with a sickening crunch, knocking the post over.  As it rose again Ness noticed that its front leg had been completely broken, and it hung limply by his side.  However, after a few seconds of squirming and twitching, the leg settled back in its socket and healed itself with a sickening crunch.

"We have to prevent that thing from attacking Paula," said Poo calmly.  He slipped off his sunglasses and stored them in his coat pocket, and then turned to Ness. "Hide her."

Ness ran back into the house while Poo took up a fighting pose.  The Bio-Giygas was stalking towards the house again, but Poo was ready for it.  He extended his palm and fired a white, star-shaped blast of energy that flew towards the monster.  It was able to leap to the side, but not to dodge it, as the cosmokinetic attack lopped off its ear, showering it in blood.  The rat howled in pain and lunged, but Poo leaped to the side and fell back into a fighting stance.

The rat advanced on him, slowly this time.  The sun was completely hidden now, and it was hard to see, even for Poo.  He backed up carefully towards the house while he thought of a plan.  The rat hunched close to the ground and stalked forward, its tail swinging dangerously from side to side. 

Then the light posts along the street came on.  The Bio-Giygas caught the neon lights head on and retreated, hissing painfully.  After it was outside the beam it recovered and leapt through quickly. 

The agent cocked an eyebrow.

"It's vulnerable to bright light…"

The creature lunged again, and Poo jumped to meet it.  He spun around and brought out his right foot with a yell in an overhead arc, which connected with the monster's head and drove it into the ground.  Poo landed and retreated somewhat warily to the house. 

After a few seconds the agent began to suspect that the creature was, in fact, dead.  He took a tentative step towards it, still at the ready.  Then another.  After a third step he was almost on top of the creature.  He extended his foot and prodded the creature's head.

_Snap.  Poo's foot was nearly bitten off by the monster, which snapped back to life and attempted to chomp off the agent's limbs.  As Poo jumped back the creature's tail extended and whipped out; Poo raised his hand to block, and it was instead captured by the tail's bifurcated tip, which latched onto his forearm.  Poo's eyes went wide as the Bio-Giygas, its prey trapped, rushed for the kill._

"Yaaaagh!"

An airborne chair hurled out of the house and into the creature's open maw, knocking it back.  Poo turned to find Ness and Paula; the former had used psychokinesis to help his friend and superior.  However, the strain on his still-injured mind took its toll on him, and he stumbled forward, stunned.  Paula caught him in her arms, a scared look on her face. 

_That's it… Poo pulled on his captive arm and shouted out to Ness. "Kid, get over here! That thing's weak against bright lights!"_

Ness looked up.  Sweat glazed his forehead. "I can't do it," he said. "I can barely lift a chair, much less generate light right now!"

"It doesn't matter! It's either that or we're dead!"

The creature lunged, and Poo danced around it, although it was getting hard to continue like this, especially if he was partially immobilized.  He called out to Ness again. "Help me!"

Ness slowly walked out of the house, using Paula as support.  He had no idea what to do now, and that psychic attack had left him dizzy and with a sharp pain in his head.

"I can't do it…" Ness muttered to himself under his breath. "I can't do it, I'll die…"

Suddenly he felt Paula's hand on his cheek.  She gently turned her head to his and spoke in his ear. 

"We're here with you. Remember, you have to balance the forces within."

Ness focused on Paula's eyes.  They were so closed her pupils seemed like dots.  Stranger still, her blue eyes were tinged a dark crimson…

Ness straitened and put his arm around Paula's head, so that his hand was placed on her forehead.  Then he extended his hand and yelled. "Poo!"

Poo dodged another lunge and spotted Ness.  Instinctively he reached for his sunglasses and put them on.

Ness' eyes went wide as he tapped into the energy in Paula's mind and channeled it as his own.  The psycholuminescent blast caught the Bio-Giygas straight on and enveloped it.  For a moment the neighborhood looked like it was in the middle of the sunniest day of the year.  After a moment the light subsided and the creature collapsed on the floor, clearly dead.  Smoke rose in small curls from its carcass.

Ness finally lost the energy to stand up and collapsed, bringing the sleeping Paula down with him.  Poo ripped the tail that held his arm and ran over to them.  In the meantime, every single family in every single household emerged from their houses to look at what had caused the commotion.  Very soon they caused a great commotion. 

"Oh, man what _is that _thing_?!"_

"They tore down a lamp post!"

"Who's that guy? And what's he doing with those kids?"

Poo reached into his sleeve and retrieved his phone.  He flipped it open and pressed a button on its face.

"Strong? This is Kai Poo. I need a containment unit over here, _now_. Lock on to the coordinates on my phone…okay. Poo out."

As he sheathed his phone and took Paula in his arms Paula's father and mother came out of the house and beheld the spectacle before them.

"I thought you said this would never happen again," scolded Paula's father sternly. "Professor Andonuts guaranteed that we wouldn't get attacked again!"

Poo could not bow to holding Paula, so he lowered his head curtly. "I am sorry," he said plainly.

Paula's father turned away.  His grip on Paula's mother's hand tightened. "Just go," he said. "Just…just go."

Poo looked down at Ness, who had managed to drag himself to his feet again.  Then he walked away, towards the woods where the Sky Runner was.  Ness turned to follow, but he shot one last glance at Paula's family over his shoulder.  They looked hurt, if not betrayed.  Ness whispered a soft, "I'm sorry," before leaving in the same direction as Poo.

Once in the Sky Runner, Poo set Paula's body down and strapped himself in, while Ness collapsed onto his seat.  He tried to say something to the agent, but found that he didn't know what to say.  Luckily it would be Poo who would talk this time.

"This has only happened one other time," he said glumly. "It was the time when SANCTUARY had detected Paula's powers. They were about to take her away when…" He paused and sighed, obviously holding back a terrible amount of grief and guilt. "…she nearly died."

Ness sighed softly. "Guess that's why they don't live in Twoson anymore, huh," he said. "To escape from the bad memories."

Poo lowered his head. "Just one more reason why we have to annihilate Giygas."

Ness turned away and felt a sudden lurching as the Sky Runner took off towards SANCTUARY.  He looked out the window and saw a police truck arriving on the seen, although the people that stepped outside of it to retrieve the creature were wearing SANCTUARY uniforms.

As Ness slowly felt to sleep, he shot one last glance at Paula and sighed.

Meanwhile, back at SANCTUARY, Professor Andonuts was hobbling towards a large, military-class Sky Runner, escorted by two physicians.  The Sky Runner had just landed, and the door was opening slowly.  A troop of SANCTUARY operatives exited and lined up on opposite sides of the door, while one of the physicians went inside and retrieved whoever was inside.  That person stumbled out of the Sky Runner, clothes torn and full of bruises.  His glasses were cracked.

As soon as the physician escorted the young boy outside Professor Andonuts walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.  His lips curled into a lopsided smile.

"…uncle?"

The old man chuckled. "Welcome, Jeff. I've been looking for you."  


	5. 5th Revolution: Luminosity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=5th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Luminosity::_**

****

****

"I'm _telling you, _I_ was the one who told him about the side effects of the augmentation process!"_

"Nuh-uh! It was _me, I did it first!"_

Once again Ness found himself sitting at a small table in the mess hall, next to Apple and Orange.  They were, unsurprisingly, bickering over work; more specifically, who had done what work, and why that person should get credit for it.  The argument, which was more annoying than it was aggressive, was interrupted by short, marked silences in which both contenders would eat from their respective trays.  

Ness would normally keep quiet during these bouts to try and end them as soon as was possible.  However, this time he had someone to talk to as well. 

"Are they like this _all the time?"_

Ness smiled and looked at Jeff. "Pretty much," he said. "But they're good guys, so I cut 'em some slack every now and then. Believe me, you'll get used to it."

The blonde-haired youth took another bite from the food in his tray and sighed.  As much as he had tried to get used to moments like this, it was still incredibly hard to adjust to his new surroundings. 

Eventually both Apple and Orange finished their meals, and then bade their good byes as they went back to work.  That left the two friends to contemplate their afternoon. 

"So what else is there to do around here?" Jeff picked up both his tray and Ness', and deposited them both in a receptacle near the exit to the cafeteria.

Ness shrugged. "Not much, actually. I've been trying to convince Professor Andonuts to let me use a Sky Runner to go to Twoson, but Poo's completely against it."

"Oh." Jeff adjusted his glasses. "Man, this place is pretty boring."

Ness chuckled. "Yeah. Well, I _am_ meeting Paula in a few minutes. You can come if you want to."

"About that…" the two teens left the cafeteria and turned down a white hallway that was so clean Ness could see his reflection on the wall. 

"So your dream girl turned out to be real after all. Who knew?"

"That's not the only thing that's surprising. You've only been here since yesterday, so you probably haven't heard about my powers…"

Jeff did a double take. "You have _powers? Since when?"_

"It's a long story," replied Ness.  Suddenly he stopped and looked at a tall, grey door that interrupted the white continuity of the hallway. "This is it," he proclaimed. 

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Man, you really must have powers if you can tell all these hallways apart."

Ness slid his keycard down a slot to the left of the door, and it swished open compliantly.  After walking in he spotted Paula sitting at her piano, playing softly.

Truth be told, he never really felt comfortable around Paula; her manner of speaking to him, combined with the way she would zone out occasionally intimidated Ness quite a bit.  However, the fact that he could view her as an equal within the confines of SANCTUARY overrode any sort of discomfort he could ever feel around her.

Jeff whistled to himself very softly and whispered in Ness' ear. "Whoah, she is _hot," he said. "You didn't waste any time…"_

Ness silenced his companion with a soft elbow to the ribs. "Knock it off," he said.  After that he cleared his throat loudly to alert Paula of his presence.

The girl finished the piece she was playing and looked up.  A weak smile formed over her lips as she rose to greet Ness in her own, particular way:

"You remind me of that piece I just played, you know."

By _confusing him._

Ness pursed his lips and accepted the so-called compliment, then indicated Jeff with his hand. "This is Jeff," he said. "He's a friend of mine from Fourside. He got here yesterday."

Jeff waved a hand. "Hi."

Paula smiled at him weakly, and then sat down on her bed, making no indication that she wanted the other two in the room to follow suit. 

"I haven't shown you my latest paintings yet. Would you like to see them?"

Ness and Jeff exchanged glances.

"Sure."

On the other side of SANCTUARY headquarters Apple and Orange were entering a large elevator at the end of a grey hallway.  They stood on opposite ends of the tall doors and slid their identification cards on two different readers located across from each other.  When the doors slid open the two scientists walked in quietly; Apple removed a key from his pocket and inserted it in a keyhole in the wall, while Orange punched in a password only he knew on a numerical pad on the other side of the lift.  Once that was done the elevator lurched and started a slow descent.

When the doors slid open again Apple and Orange stepped out into a vast laboratory.  Several consoles were arranged in a crude circle around a platform in the center; this platform had on it a podium with a stone tablet, and a mechanical arm that stood at the ready beside it.  Several cables were strewn about the floor haphazardly, running between the consoles, the center of the room, and the floor.  Standing before one of the consoles were an old man and a burly-looking fellow with a thick mustache and sunglasses.

Apple strode up to the old man and cleared his throat. "Professor Andonuts, Commander Strong, the translation program is still running. We won't know what it is for a while now."

The researcher turned to face his younger, plumper counterpart. "That's quite all right, Apple," he said with a smile. "We've plenty of time." With that he faced Orange, who was busy booting up one of the monitors in the room, which was on a mobile table. 

"And you, Orange? Any progress on the stone from the previous tablet?"

"None, Professor," replied Orange, eyes fixed on the monitor. "All I can tell you is that it looks like something's stored in there. A preliminary analysis shows that it resembles certain translucent minerals like emerald and diamond. There is one thing, though…"

The professor's bushy eyebrows arched and a quizzical look overcame his wrinkled features. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it's the damndest thing…" Orange swiveled the table around to show his commander a vibrating, pulsating line that ran across the screen horizontally. "The stone's giving off brainwaves."

In the background Strong scoffed to himself quietly.  No one else seemed to notice.

"How is that possible?" As soon as Professor Andonuts asked the question Apple jumped to a nearby console and typed on it quickly until the screen displayed a still shot of the line Orange had shown the professor earlier, on the left side of the screen.  On the right side several, similar still shots flashed by rapidly, as if the computer was trying to find one that matched the original.

"I found that out," he proclaimed. "I noticed the waves were electric, so I ran a trace on it and found that it matched the brainwaves of the human being perfectly. What's even _more amazing is that they match some of the readings for one of our guys that we have on record."_

The Professor's eyebrows looked like they would disappear into the creases in his forehead if they went any higher. "Really? Who?"

Orange smiled. "Ness. The waves from that stone match the data we took from Ness exactly." He walked over to another console and grabbed a tiny joystick that was there.  Instantly the mechanical arm whirred to life and swiveled around the central platform. 

"It could just be a coincidence, but we can't be too sure until we figure out_ this_ tablet. We think this one and the other one were initially one tablet, and that you can use the hieroglyphics on this tablet to decipher the stone."

The old man sighed, content, and stalked off towards the exit, hobbling on his cane. "That's very good, boys, I'm quite happy," he mused. "I'll be back tomorrow to check up on you again."

The two scientists nodded and interrupted what they were doing to offer their leader a salute.  Andonuts was just at the door when he noticed that it didn't open.  He turned towards the two researchers again.

"I think the door's automatic lock has been set again," he said. "Would you mind opening the lift doors for me?"

"Sure thing, professor." Apple toddled over to the door and slid his keycard down a slot to the left of it.  The small screen on the face of the reader, which had the word 'CLOSED' on it in big, red letters, changed to show the word 'OPEN' in equally big, green font. 

"Thank you." 

As the lift closed and began its steady climb to the surface, Strong walked up to Orange's terminal and stared at the monitor over the scientist's shoulder.  The latter could nearly feel the commander's bushy moustache scraping against his neck, and he felt the man's hot breath on his shoulder.  He shifted uncomfortably.

"What of your psychic augmentation experiments? Are they complete?"

Orange took a step to the side to eliminate the space between him and Strong. "They're discontinued," he answered. "They're too risky. I thought agent Poo had told you about that."

Strong finally stepped back and Orange secretly heaved a sigh of relief. "I must have forgotten then. What was the exact reason for their discontinuation?"

"Oh, that's easy!" exclaimed Apple from behind a console on the other end of the room. "See, the psychic resonance sphere can boost a person's mental capacity, but the human mind can only take so much of it before it collapses. Psychic augmentation involves putting a permanent resonance sphere on a person's mind and, well…I guess you can figure out the rest."

Strong grumbled disappointedly.  When next he spoke it looked as though his mouth hadn't opened at all due to his moustache. "Do you have that data here?"

"Sure," answered Orange.  He stooped down to pick two cables off the floor and connect them, then secure them with a twist. "Ever since the Giygas attack that destroyed the lab, we moved all our old data and relevant equipment down here. Why do you ask?"

The two scientists were too busy with their own work to notice that Strong's eyes glowed a bright red through his dark sunglasses. "I need a favor from you…"

As Paula lost herself (figuratively) in one of her paintings, Ness drew Jeff to the side. "Listen, man, there's something I've been wanting to ask you…"

Jeff adjusted his glasses. "Sure. What's up?"

Ness glanced at Paula again.  She didn't look like she could hear what he was saying. "It's about my family…"

Jeff cast his gaze downwards.  He had known this would come up eventually. "I don't know. After the attack I went to your apartment to see if anyone was there, but it was empty."

"O-oh." Ness' eyes lost some of their brightness. "Well, that's okay…if they weren't there then they could still be alive, right?"

"I guess." Jeff tried to hide how difficult it was for him to talk about that incident. "In any case, my parents weren't home either…we'll find them eventually."

"Right."

Then the alarm on Ness' watch went off, startling him slightly.  The young man reached to turn it off when he remembered what it was for. 

"Aw man!" Ness smacked his hand against his forehead. "I totally forgot! I was supposed to meet with Poo!" He turned to his best friend. "You're going to kill me for this…"

Jeff shook his head, and his blond hair glimmered. "I'll be fine. Instead, I'd be worried about me moving in on your girl…"

Ness punched Jeff playfully in the arm. "She's not my girl." He then jogged to the door. "I'll see you later. Bye Paula!"

Paula glanced at him briefly before abandoning her painting and sitting at her piano again. "Good-bye. Tell Poo I said hello."

Once Ness was gone Jeff walked over to the piano and sat down on the bench.  He shot Paula a smile. "Mind if I try?"

Paula's eyes went wide. "You can play?" 

Jeff noted the tinge of anxiety in her voice and chuckled. "A little bit, yeah. Do you want to play together?"

Paula nodded excitedly, and put her hands to the keyboard.  Jeff played a few introductory notes and, when he saw that Paula knew the song and played the following notes, broke into the composition full on.  The two played without speaking for a few minutes, with Jeff occasionally stealing glances at the girl in the pink dress.

When the song was done Paula leaned back and clapped. "That was very good!" she exclaimed.  Then her features went back to normal and she shifted her eyes to the right while she cocked her head to the left. "I wonder why Ness doesn't learn to play…"

Jeff giggled. "He has other talents, you know."

Paula smiled. "Yes, I do." She got up and walked over to the picture of her, propped up on the table. "Although I notice that you are far more accepting of me than he was. I make him uncomfortable."

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell?"

"Very easily. I delved into his mind telepathically."

Jeff sighed. _Am I the only person in this stupid base without any superpowers?_

"No, you are not," replied Paula, obviously referring to the fact that she had just read Jeff's mind. "In any case, it is not a talent I use often; just when I meet new people."

"And why's that?"

Paula let out a sad sigh and ran her hand over the picture. "My powers…are destructive."

Jeff was about to question that last statement when he saw Paula veer off towards the door suddenly. "Hey, where are you going?"

Paula did not answer, and walked out the door.  Jeff quickly followed.

"Hello? Hey, anyone in there? Paula!" He caught up to her and waved his hand in front of her face.  Surprisingly, at least to him, Paula didn't even flinch.

Jeff ran ahead of her and spread his arms, intent on stopping her.  When he saw her eyes, tinged a dark crimson, he gasped in surprise and dropped his hands to his sides.  Paula circumvented him without so much as a whisper and walked off, apparently much quicker now, towards something or someone, somewhere within the base.

The blonde youth, aghast, jogged to catch up with her.  He didn't scream, for he knew that it was useless now; instead he tried to spot a soldier or other such official person to try and lend a helping hand.  This went on for several minutes, until Paula led Jeff to a large elevator and stopped. 

As Paula stared at the elevator doors wantonly, Jeff rushed to the nearest control console and slid his keycard down the slot in its side.  Frantically he searched through the directory until he found the entry for Professor Andonuts' office.  Much to his dismay, the console displayed a red screen, with a message that read, "Your clearance level is insufficient for this call."

Jeff cursed silently to himself and tried again while keeping an eye on Paula, who had pressed her hands against the door and begun pushing.  He tried looking up the Security office, but the line was busy; the Infirmary wasn't responding, and no one seemed to be in the Laboratory.  A bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

Suddenly the door to the elevator opened slowly, and Paula stepped inside.  Jeff barely noticed her out of the corner of his eye, and decided to follow her instead of pursuing the call.  He dashed between the closing doors and followed the elevator downwards, just as the fifth call he made finally patched through.

"It's the console at the Laboratory entrance. No one's responding," said Poo as he tapped a few buttons on the console in his room.  Ness was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, and looking curiously at the agent.

"I couldn't see who was calling, but I did see the elevator closing. Who could be calling from there like that?"

Ness rose from his position on the floor and slipped his shoes on. "I could go check it out, if you want."

Poo stroked his chin. "I guess. We'll just leave our meditation session for tomorrow."

Ness nodded, tied his shoes and went out the door towards the laboratory entrance, leaving the agent in his room.

Orange gagged and struggled against the iron grip of Commander Strong, who was holding him aloft while staring at Apple, who in turn was typing away furiously at a console near the elevator door.

"Why isn't it working yet?" Strong's voice was icy and monotone, just like always.  This time, though, it sent chills down Apple's spine, who was trying as hard as he could to obey Strong's orders. 

"I—I can't get it working any faster just by myself! You need to let go of Orange!"

Strong tightened the grip on Orange's throat in response, eliciting a pained cough. "I will not let him go until you activate the psychic augmentation process. Then and only then will I let them go."

Apple gulped hard and resumed typing.  Since Strong had a hostage it was too difficult to try and call for help or make a run for it.  

The scientist pointed to the central podium. "You have to get on that for the process to work."

Strong effortlessly hurled Orange to the side and stepped up to the podium, knocking away the tablet as he did so.  Apple gasped in shock as the tablet hit the floor and broke in two. 

No turning back now.  Apple typed in a few more commands and the room was bathed in a lavender light.  Strong's sunglasses dropped off his face, revealing red, bloodshot eyes that quickly rolled into the back of his head as the Giygas-possessed human clutched his face.  His mouth began to foam and his teeth ground against each other.  Apple had to turn away just to avoid being sick all over the lab console.

As the process reached its conclusion the elevator doors slipped open and Paula stepped out, followed by Jeff.  The latter barely had any time to decipher what was going on when Strong spotted him and Paula.  He charged off the platform and lunged at the two teens; Jeff grabbed Paula and tackled her to the floor.

Paula's eyes went back to their original blue color.  She looked to Jeff, who was hovering over her protectively. "Where am I? What's going on?"

Strong lunged again, and Jeff nearly tripped over himself while dragging Paula away. "I don't know! You spaced out all of a sudden and…"

Jeff's explanation was interrupted by Strong, who was preparing to lunge again.  This time the teens lying on the floor were too close to try and run away, and cowered in fear.

Strong was about to lunge when Orange snuck up behind him and hit his head with a chair.  He was still panting from his near-strangulation and was having trouble keeping his balance. 

"You kids all right?" Jeff and Paula nodded simultaneously while Orange helped them up.  He still clutched the chair protectively with one hand.

As soon as Jeff got on his feet again he noticed Strong rising from his prostate position on the floor.  Before he could even utter a word the Possession-Giygas struck them both with an augmented wave of psychokinesis, which sent them crashing into the far wall.  Strong rose again, although his head was hanging limply to the side—Orange had broken its neck, yet it still moved.

Paula's knees locked up and her legs began to tremble while Strong stalked towards her slowly.  She whipped her head every which way, looking for something to help her defend herself.  She found nothing.  As Strong neared and raised his hands towards her neck, Paula squeezed her eyes shut and did the only thing she was able to do at that time.

_Ness__!_

Ness' pupils dilated as he reached the elevator door.  Instantly he began pounding on the console in an attempt to call the elevator, but the automatic lock had closed it from the inside.  There was no way to get the elevator up to him.

Thinking quickly, Ness took a step back and began concentrating.  He held out his hands and clenched them into fists, as if grabbing the elevator doors from afar.  His mouth dropped open as his concentration went towards the doors.  Finally, after a moment, he whipped his arms to the side and the doors were literally ripped off their hinges, revealing the black, empty elevator shaft behind them.  Without even thinking, Ness jumped into the diagonal shaft and slid towards the bottom.

Apple jumped on Strong's back and tried to hold him off while Paula tried to get away.  The efforts proved fruitless, though, as Strong easily threw him off.  Paula's eyes were in tears now, and she tripped over a cable on the floor while trying to scramble away.  She closed her eyes again and began panicking as Strong neared her and prepared to grab her neck.

Then, suddenly, the doors to the elevator were blown open and Ness ran through.  As soon as he saw Strong he reached out to him and used psychokinesis to lift him up and slam him into the ceiling.

Immediately Ness ran past Strong and took Paula in his arms protectively.  She was still crying, and he hugged her to his chest while he stood back up.  Strong rose again and fixed its red eyes on Ness.  The latter prepared to attack when he felt an equally powerful psychokinetic wave being hurled at him.  Ness had to shield himself with his arm while fighting back with his own powers.  

More foam flowed from Strong's mouth, and it advanced towards Ness and Paula menacingly while forcing them towards the wall with an ever-growing wave of psychic power.  Ness was beginning to lose his ground, and he struggled to avoid from succumbing to the Possession-Giygas' powers.  

When Ness felt like he couldn't resist any more, he felt Paula's head rustling against his chest.  Her tear-ridden eyes had turned red again, and she held out her hand, fingers spread.  

Strong's psychic wave weakened; Paula's own power was ripping into its insides, and soon the Possession-Giygas had dropped its attack entirely.  Paula released herself from Ness' grip and stood on her own while channeling psychic energies into Strong.  Within a few seconds Strong burst into flame and began flailing about madly.  Soon after it fell to the floor, lifeless. 

Paula fainted where she stood, and Ness barely had any time to catch her.  He picked her up and strode over to the other wall, where Jeff, Apple, and Orange lay.

Ness bent down and stirred Jeff. "Hey, you okay?"

Jeff's eyes fluttered open painfully. "Ness…what happened?"

"Giygas. It's okay now, he's gone."

Jeff painfully rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, I guess I didn't get to see you use those powers of yours, huh."

Ness chuckled. "Maybe next time."

Jeff smiled. "Good thing, too. If you hadn't—look out!"

Jeff grabbed Ness and pushed him to the side as Strong's charred cadaver lunged again.  The blonde youth, however, had no time to scramble away, and found himself with Strong's burnt hands locked around his neck.  His eyes bugged out and he began gasping for air.

Ness clattered to the floor, Paula still in his arms, and looked to Jeff.  Instinctively he reached out with his hand and blasted Strong with a psycholuminescent flash.  The Possession-Giygas convulsed, and then dropped to the side, this time dead for sure. 

Jeff clutched at his neck and wiped away a few drops of blood. "Thanks."

Ness let his head fall to the floor, and his grip around Paula tightened. "You're welcome."

The room then fell silent for the first time in several hours.

"So the mole was Strong all along…" 

Ness stared at the symbol on the glowing screen of the intercom beside his bed.  The words "Sound Only" were superimposed on the symbol. "I guess. You must be glad to find that out."

"We would have found out eventually," replied Poo. "Better sooner than later though. I'll talk to you tomorrow." The screen shut off, and Ness was left to lie back in his bed.  He stared at the bottom of the bunk which had been placed directly above his. 

"How're you feeling, Jeff?"

"All right, I guess," replied the person sleeping on the top bunk. "These bandages that they put around my neck are kind of itchy, but I'll live."

Ness chuckled. "Glad to hear it." He reached to the intercom and pressed a red button on it.  The lights switched off compliantly, leaving the two youths bathed in darkness. 

Ness pulled his sheets over the lower half of his body. "Good night, Jeff."

On the top bunk, Jeff removed his glasses and placed them beside his pillow.  Ness couldn't see it in the dark, but his eyes were tinged a dark crimson.

"Good night…Ness."    


	6. 6th Revolution: Obscurity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=6th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Obscurity::_**

****

Ness was greatly surprised to find he was standing on the roof of a tall building, staring at the setting sun while the wind whipped at him from behind.

He had, of course, no idea why he was there or how he had arrived in the first place; a quick search of his short-term memory yielded no results.  This could mean only one thing.

_I'm dreaming._

This realization did little to surprise Ness, who had taken a few steps towards the edge of the roof unconsciously—or rather, consciously, given the nature of his dream.  It was only after planting both feet on the very edge of the building and looking down at the empty street hundreds of meters below that he was shocked.

Well, empty except for four figures, one of which Ness could swear wore a red cap…

"Yo, Ness! Get up already!"

Ness' eyes were jolted open, and he could see Jeff's blurry outline shaking him gently. 

"Jeff…what time is it?"

"Half-past _late_, that's what time it is," replied Jeff, who threw the covers onto the floor beside Ness' bunk, grabbed his arm, and proceeded to haul him to a standing position. "I just got a call from Agent Poo. He says you're being put on assignment next week and briefing starts now."

Ness sighed discontentedly. "Figures." Slowly and lazily he dragged his feet to the bathroom door, jerked it open gruffly, and disappeared into the small, white room.  Seconds later the sound of running water echoed from inside.

Jeff, who had showered and dressed some time before, adjusted his glasses with one hand and looked himself over, and then headed for the door.  He raised the other hand to open it when he noticed that his palm was flushed red.  It was the same hand he had used to grab Ness earlier.  The blonde teenager creased his forehead.

"It burns." 

Quickly, Jeff opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. 

Despite his earlier comment on the difficulty of finding one's way inside the startling-white hallways of SANCTUARY, Jeff had little to no trouble finding his way to the hallway that lead to Paula's room.  He strode casually to the door and noted with very little excitement that the door was locked, something that was completely uncharacteristic of her from what he had heard from Ness and seen the day before.  Slowly he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his ID card, which he slid down the reader to the right of the door, opening it. 

He was greeted upon entry by the slow, mellow sound of solitary notes resonating from the piano in the right side of the room.  Paula was sitting there, caressing notes experimentally while she bit her lower lip, apparently in frustration. 

Jeff cleared his throat. "I noticed you locked your door."

Paula stopped playing and looked up at Jeff blankly. 

"I only do that when I compose. Otherwise I am unable to complete my pieces satisfactorily."

Jeff slipped off his green jacket and tossed it on the bed, his smiling eyes transfixed on Paula's innocent-looking face.  Without even uttering a word he approached the bench and sat down on it ceremoniously, sliding Paula to the side as he did so.  The girl stared at him, apparently perplexed.

"What are you…"

She was silenced with a wave of the hand as Jeff read the scribbled partition showing the piece Paula had been working on.  He went over each note carefully, making sure to learn every one by heart.  Then, finally, he started playing.

It went slowly at first; he tapped each key only to get a feel for the music and its composer.  With time, though, he began playing faster and with more confidence, hitting every chord, striking every note with precision until his hands took on a mind of their own.  Then, he reached the end of the partition abruptly, and he stopped.  

"It's not finished yet. I…"

Paula never had a chance to finish.  Jeff broke into a flourish and continued the melody, picking up where she had left off.  With incredible skill he managed to compose the rest of the piece fluently and accurately; his mouth dropped open in concentration.  Then he reached the end—the end he had created—and stopped playing.  His eyes were tinged a light red and his breathing was ragged.

Paula's eyes went wide and she hopped off the bench.  She stared at Jeff with a mixture of confusion and awe, said the only thing she could think of then:

"How did you do that?"

Jeff's mouth closed and his breathing normalized.  With a snide smile he made his way to Paula's bed and grabbed his jacket, which he slipped back on wordlessly.  When he looked back at Paula his eyes had returned to their normal color and his face looked no different from how it had been when he walked in.

Paula took a tentative step towards Jeff.  He, in turn, stepped quickly towards Paula until he was so close to her that their chests touched.  He leaned his head forward; Paula's eyes went wide as Jeff's mouth brushed past her ear and he whispered:

"You have no idea who or what you are, do you?"

Before the girl could respond Jeff turned away and headed for the door.  He stepped outside.

"That was fun," he said. "We should do it again sometime."

Then he left, and the girl in the room was silent.

Almost simultaneous with Jeff's departure from Paula's chambers was Ness' arrival at a previously unknown wing of the SANCTUARY building.  At the end of the hallway that served as the entrance to this new area were two big, transparent double doors that lead into what appeared to be a big network of offices.  Standing in front of them was Professor Andonuts, who was tapping his good foot impatiently.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," he said sternly.  This caused Ness to shift his eyes uncomfortably.

The researcher took the awkward silence at face value. "Let us move on, then," he said. "We have much to do and little time to do it in. Follow me."

Andonuts did an about face and walked up to the double doors, which slid open compliantly.  Ness followed.

This wing of the base seemed almost out of place when compared to the rest of the massive headquarters that surrounded it.  There were no long hallways or endless walls of white; instead there was a rough, grey carpet, blue paint on the walls, and rows of cubicles where dozens of people worked diligently in front of desks, computers, and several pieces of equipment that Ness couldn't even begin to identify.  The entire place was bustling with activity, be it because of the dull drone of computers at work, the workers in ties running back and forth with stacks of papers in their hands, or the big screen displaying several different numbers and ciphers that Ness was unable to understand.  The entire room felt somewhat cramped, and Ness found it very hard to enjoy the pleasant view of the valley from the wall-sized windows that occupied one side of the office.

Andonuts walked directly to a large, mahogany door.  Unlike the other doors in the base, which were activated by ID cards, this one sported an old fashioned lock, and the researcher had to fumble with a ring of keys before he was able to open it and walk inside.

Professor Andonuts' office was, for lack of a better term, large.  The circular office was painted a dark blue, and a lone wooden desk was stationed on the far side.  The back hemisphere, like in the office room before it, consisted of wall-sized windows that displayed a blurred view of the valley outside—a rushing waterfall served as a translucent curtain and filled the room with a soothing whisper.  To Ness' right was a shelf filled to the brim with thick books, all of which looked like they had seen more in their lifetime than he in his.  To his left were several portraits—among them Ness was able to spot one of Jeff's family—and one more door a quarter of the way around to the left.  Oddly enough, this door had both an ID scanner and a physical lock attached to it.

Andonuts walked over to his desk, which looked just as old as he was, and sat down in the old leather chair behind it.  After scraping off some loose sheets of paper and ordering them, he placed his elbows on the edge and clasped his hands together.  

"Well?"

Ness tilted his head to the side. "Well…what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me why I brought you here instead of the briefing hall?"

"Um…" Ness pursed his lips. "Because…you weren't really going to give me a mission briefing?"

"Precisely. That was a lie elaborated by Agent Poo to get you here without raising suspicions from my nephew. I needed you here alone."

The two staid there, Andonuts in his chair and Ness on his feet.

"I hope you'll forgive my being so blunt, but it is a necessity right now." The old man's speech grew low and gritty, giving Ness the impression that Andonuts was either very tired or a heavy smoker.

Ness took off his cap and wrung it in his hands. "It's okay," he said. "I guess I deserve it for being late all the time."  

Andonuts smiled for the first time that day, and Ness remembered that he was talking to the kind old man that had taken care of him for some time.  He let his shoulders droop to their normal posture, and his muscles relaxed.

"Now then, there is something I've wanted to ask you for a while now…something that had not been brought to my attention until only recently. Please, sit."

Andonuts motioned to the small chair in front of his desk, and Ness took it.  

"I want to ask you about your dreams."

Ness' brow furrowed. "What about them?"

"When my nephew was first brought to SANCTUARY I took him here, into my office, and we discussed several topics that I'm sure you would find very boring. He did, however, mention that before the attack on Fourside—much before—you had been having strange dreams about a girl."

Ness nodded. "Paula…I had been dreaming about Paula."

"Yes. Now, apart from those involving Paula, have you ever had any other prophetic dreams, before or after the attack?"

Ness scratched his chin in thought. "No. I had a weird dream last night, but that's it."

Professor Andonuts nodded, satisfied with Ness' answer.  He leaned back in his chair and twiddled his fingers, as if trying to find the most appropriate wording for his next question.  In the meantime Ness sat there, looking at the red cap in his hands and trying to find somewhere to look to make it seem like he was doing anything except hanging on the old man's every word.

After a moment of silence, Andonuts spoke again. "I'd like to know what _you_ know about Giygas, now that you've had several encounters with it first hand."

Ness was caught off guard by the request, but he answered to the best of his ability. "From what I've heard Giygas is something that can take any shape…like it has no shape in the first place. I don't know where it comes from or what it wants, though."

"It wants nothing more than to destroy, for it is Chaos itself," replied Andonuts while waving a long, bony finger in the air, as if he was giving a lecture. "It demonstrates a great capacity for adaptation, as you have seen due to its repeated attacks. Giygas is, quite simply, a mindless force of sheer violence and disarray, not unlike a terrible virus or plague. It is for its destruction that SANCTUARY was built in the first place."

Ness raised an eyebrow. "Really? I could've sworn…"

Andonuts leaned forward again. "Could've sworn what?"

"Well…" Ness shrugged. "Paula told me a couple of times how I had to 'balance the forces' of it or something…I can't remember too well."

The researcher looked away, and Ness shrunk back into his chair, afraid that he had just said something unsuitable. 

"That is an interesting theory, but unfortunately incorrect. I have been conducting extensive research on Giygas for the past twelve years, and I am completely certain that the only thing the human race can do to it is destroy it. Do you understand that, Ness?" 

The professor's now-piercing stare shut Ness' throat, and all he could do was nod feebly.

"Good." Andonuts' smile returned to normal. "Now, one more thing; it's about Commander Strong…"

Ness looked down at the red cap resting in his lap. "I…heard he was a good guy…but somehow Giygas possessed him…"

"It's alright if you are unwilling to talk about it," said the old man. "It was, after all, only yesterday that this incident occurred…"

Ness shook his head and looked away. "It's alright. It's just…" He let out an involuntary sigh. "He almost got Paula…and Jeff, too.  He almost strangled him."

Andonuts cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? How's that?"

"Well, before I stopped him Strong grabbed Jeff's neck…he managed to hurt him a little, but it wasn't too bad. I guess Poo didn't tell you because it wasn't that important."

Andonuts' brow furrowed and he leaned forward again, deep in thought.  Ness was at a loss for words.  

Suddenly the researcher rose and grabbed his cane.  Ness watched curiously as the man went over to the shelf on the other side of the room and plucked a book from there.  He rifled through the pages until he came to the one he was looking for, and began reading it aloud under his breath.

"Possession-type Giygas…takes over bodily functions…increased strength and heightened senses…_can transmit itself via physical contact if necessary_."

Ness was startled as Andonuts dropped the book on the floor and his eyes grew distant.  Almost as suddenly as he had risen the professor plopped himself clumsily on his desk and opened one of the bottom drawers, which turned out to have a keyboard and a fold-out screen.  He typed a command into the computer and brought up the main directory, then immediately selected Poo's private number.

Ness, uneasy now, rose from his seat. "Professor…what is it? What happened?"

Andonuts shook his head. "Giygas is still here…it is inside Jeff's body."

Just outside a lone worker spotted a blonde youth in a green jacket strolling past the double doors and looking around the room.  Instinctively he spoke to him.

"Excuse me; you're not supposed to be in he—"

He was cut off before he could finish, for the blonde teenager grabbed his neck and snapped it in two. 

Another person approached him; he, in turn, dropped the limp figure and proceeded to throw the newcomer into the far wall, eliciting screams from the other workers in the room.  All eyes were on him now, and he took the opportunity to adjust his glasses and point to a random person.

"You. Where's the boss' office?"

The frightened worker, a short, plump woman, pointed meekly to the mahogany door across the room. 

"Thank you."

The workers scrambled out of Jeff's way and let him pass, too frightened to do anything else.  Jeff strolled calmly up to the door, grabbed the doorknob with his right hand, and proceeded to rip the door off its hinges violently. 

Ness took his gaze off Professor Andonuts and turned to see his best friend standing in what was left of the doorframe, with an innocent looking smile on his face.

"Hello, _unc_." Jeff said those words in a very clear, condescending tone. "I hope I'm interrupting something."

The aging researcher rose from his seat and slammed the computer screen down. "I am not your uncle," he replied sternly. "Now get out of my nephew."

Jeff's smile actually broadened. "I don't think you should talk to your own flesh and blood like that..." He took a step forward, and the other two people in the room winced, eliciting a chuckle from the blonde young man. "Now, now…you don't think I'm going to _hurt_ you, do you?"

Ness placed his cap back on his head. "Jeff, listen to me," he pleaded. "We know what's going on. You've gotta fight it, okay? We're here for you."

Jeff took a few steps forward.  The smile did not fade from his face. "Why, thank you, Ness," he said. "I appreciate the sentiment…"

As he said those last words he reached Ness, and with a quick burst of movement he grabbed Ness by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. 

"Too bad that sentiment's what's going to get you killed." 

With a heave Ness was thrown into the bookshelf, knocking most of the books to the floor and shaking the very foundations of the circular room.  Then, without even changing the expression on his face, Jeff strolled up to the other door, the one that was kept closed by all manner of security countermeasures. 

Jeff rapped on the door with his knuckles tentatively, oblivious to the struggling teenager behind him and the feeble old man fiddling with a locked drawer in his desk.  He reared his fist back slowly, ready to smash the door open, when he heard a very audible click from the desk.

"Step away from that door." Andonuts held a small pistol in his trembling hand and pointed it threateningly at Jeff.  The weapon did little to impress him.

"You don't have the guts to shoot me," said the possessed boy. "You're too afraid of doing any real _damage_."

The researcher shook his head, and tightened the grip on his gun resolutely. "You may look and talk like my nephew, but I know far better."

"I know." Jeff took a step back. "Why do you think I entered this weak, pathetic body in the first place? I knew I'd be able to get close to you like this."

Apparently he had hit a nerve, for Andonuts recoiled, and he dropped his arm slightly.  He smiled. "What's the matter? Is the mindless, violent force of sheer destruction acting too _intelligently_ for you?"

With those words Jeff shot his fist forward and slammed it into the door, blowing clear off its hinges and well into the next room.  He was about to enter when a loud bang resonated through the air.  Jeff suddenly found it hard to move; upon closer inspection he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his leg where Professor Andonuts had shot him.

Jeff's eyes flashed red and widened. "You…actually shot me. You shot your own nephew…"

Andonuts switched the gun to his other hand. "You are not my nephew."

The two stood there, silent, for a long time.  It was only the sound of Ness coming to that broke the stalemate.  When the boy came to, still dizzy, and saw the situation laid out before him, he nearly fell unconscious again. 

"What's…going on here?"

The momentary lapse that Ness' words caused in Andonuts' attention was all Jeff needed.  He took off running, injured leg and all, down the hallway behind the now-ripped door. 

Andonuts cursed. "Ness! Do not let him reach the next room!"

Ness was startled, but he accepted the order and took off in pursuit of his best friend.

The blonde had a head start on him, but Jeff's injured leg barred him from running too fast, even with the augmented physical prowess that his possession offered him.  Ness was gaining on him with each stride, his quick, nimble footsteps barely resonating within the small, cramped, metal corridor, whereas Jeff's leg thumped clumsily against the floor.

That didn't matter, though; he was able to reach the door on the other end of the hallway before Ness could stop him.  With a gut-wrenching heave the metal door was ripped off its hinges and cast aside, leaving Jeff to contemplate what was on the other side.  A wicked smile crossed his face, and for a moment the whole world melted away.  He took a few steps inside.

Hundreds of stone tablets and papyri hung from the walls of the room.  There were two catwalks, one above the other, circling its perimeter, with metal ladders to connect them to the floor and to each other, obviously put there to facilitate the observation of the items stored there.  The artifacts that were neither tablet nor papyrus were placed on podiums that littered the floor, each with a plaque explaining the artifact's nature and purpose.  

All of that was unimportant to Jeff, who had already spotted what he was really looking for.

The green stone glowed eerily inside its glass casing in the center of the room.  It was exhibited much like a museum piece, placed on a red carpet and surrounded by a barrier.  There was no plaque to describe it or the tablet in which it was incrusted.

Jeff cast the barrier aside easily and smashed the protective glass casing open with his hand, spraying crystal shards everywhere.  The world was still on hold for him, and when he reached out to touch the stone he didn't even notice an invisible force grabbing him from behind and slamming him against the wall. 

Ness held his outstretched hand in front of him, his palm trained on Jeff.  A bead of sweat was running down the left side of his face.

"I don't want to hurt you, Jeff…just stop it right now."

Jeff rose from the floor and stared at Ness evilly.  His head was cocked to the side, and he looked confident as he strode towards his old target once more. "You won't hurt me," he said. "After all, I'm your best friend."

Ness' brow furrowed. "Sometimes I'm not so sure."

The blonde lunged and reached for Ness' neck, but Ness deflected his body with a blast of psychokinetic energy and smashed him into the far wall, breaking several of the stone tablets hanging there.  Jeff rose once more, apparently nonplussed.

"You'll have to do better than that."

Jeff got down on all fours and rushed at Ness like some sort of animal.  He was moving too fast for Ness to stop him this time, though, and soon the possessed boy was on him.  He pounced on Ness and drove him into the floor, clawing mercilessly at Ness' face.  The latter was too dazzled and feeling too much pain to muster up enough concentration to blast his opponent psychically, and he struggled to swat Jeff's hands away, with little success.  Eventually he was able to knee Jeff in the stomach, and he took advantage of the window that gave him by punching Jeff in the jaw and throwing him off his body.  The two teens rose again, bloodied and bruised; Ness' cap had been thrown off during the scuffle, and his left eye was covered in the blood from a wound in his forehead.  Jeff, on the other hand, remained on all fours, close to the floor.  His eyes were an even deeper shade of crimson than the blood that flowed from his mouth.

Ness tried to speak again, to reason with Jeff, but the other youth never gave him the chance; he grabbed a stone tablet from the floor and hurled it at Ness.  While Ness swatted the stone away with his mind Jeff lunged once more.  However, Ness was ready this time, and he purposely threw himself backwards and blasted Jeff once more as he soared overhead.  The other boy flew towards a wall, but he recovered in mid-air and was able to land on it, using it as a platform to lunge again.  He succeeded in hitting Ness this time, and they both skidded across the floor, with Jeff on top.  His bony fingers closed around Ness' neck and began squeezing.  Ness, in turn, could only struggle helplessly as he felt the world around him fade slowly.  The two staid there for several seconds.

Then, for some reason, a droplet of water fell on Ness' cheek.  In oxygen-less stupor, Ness looked up to see tears flowing from Jeff's eyes. 

"Ness…kill me…please, kill me…"

Jeff's grip loosened, and Ness breathed in deep to try and get more oxygen in his system.  Despite his near strangulation he was still able to whisper a soft, "Jeff…"

Jeff wept softly. "I can't…do this, man…you have to kill me, before I kill you…"

Ness gasped for more air. "It's okay, Jeff…I'll help you, I swear…"

"No one can help me." Another tear fell, this time on Ness' bruised eye. "They're all gone…my family's dead…I can't do this…"

Ness's breathing was almost back to normal by now. "Jeff…no…"

"_Just kill me!!_" Jeff's grip suddenly became strong again, and Ness' eyes bulged.  He reached out and, in a last ditch effort, grabbed Jeff's face and pushed it away.  To his surprise, there was a soft sizzling sound, and tendrils of smoke appeared on the spots where Ness' hand made contact with Jeff's flesh.  The latter pulled away and covered his face with his hands, screaming in agony.  Ness scrambled away, terrified, and watched his friend squirming, heard his painful wails.

Ness' breathing was ragged by now, but his resolve had never been stronger.  He ran back up to Jeff and grabbed his face with both hands, eliciting a piercing shriek from the blonde.  The screams only made his grip tighter and tighter, until it looked like Ness was smothering the other boy. 

While his hands were on Jeff's face, Ness sent several ripples of psychic energy into Jeff's body in an attempt to probe Jeff's mind for the Giygas inside him.  He managed to find an unwelcome presence with great difficulty, but another psychic ripple ripped it from its place in Jeff's mind and eliminated it.  

Once the deed was done, both teens fell to the floor.  Ness stood again, but only barely. 

Wordlessly Ness looked around.  The room was in shambles; countless priceless artifacts had been permanently and irreparably damaged, and the glass casing housing the tablet with the green stone on it was almost gone.

_The stone…_

For some reason Ness felt immediately drawn to it since the moment he laid eyes on it.  Jeff had been after it too, but now Ness felt like he at least had to touch it, even if only for a moment…

Professor Andonuts limped into the room just in time to see Ness' hand close around the stone.  He feebly held out a hand to stop him. "Ness! No!"

It was too late.  At the very moment Ness grasped the stone, everything went black.


	7. 7th Revolution: Veracity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=7th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Veracity::_**

****

_Beep…beep…__beep…_

_I wonder if he's dreaming?_

The pages on the book in Jeff's lap were ruffled when the boy let out a profound sigh of discomfort.  The chair he was sitting in was hard, uncomfortable, and way too small for it to do any good to his back.  He had been fighting the urge to up and leave the infirmary by diving into the heaps of text he had carried with him, but the strain was becoming too much.

The door behind him opened with a hiss, and Kai Poo marched in.  After scanning the stark-white room his eyes settled on Jeff's blonde head, which was facing away from him. 

"You're still here?"

Jeff scoffed. "Of course I'm still here. I'm the only person in here who cares about his fellow man."

Poo adjusted his sunglasses, but did not remove them. "You know that's not true."

Jeff bolted up, and the white plastic chair he was occupying clattered to the floor.  For a moment his blood-red eyes bore into Poo harder than the agent could ever hope to himself. 

"That's bull and you know it!" He jabbed at Poo threateningly with his finger. "Everyone knows that if you _people_ had bothered to take a look around yourselves we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Poo's face did not waiver.  This angered Jeff even further. "Are you even listening to me?!"

The agent shook his head and pointed to a spot behind Jeff. "Quiet. You'll disturb him."

The blonde whirled and looked at the spot Poo had pointed to; the spot he had been trying not to stare at, and failing, for several hours.  It was the bed where Ness lay, with a heart monitor hooked up to his body and a bandage around his hand, which was still firmly clutching the green stone that had put him into a coma in the first place.  The bandage had a few red stains on it—Ness' hand was holding the stone so hard that it was injuring itself.

Jeff remembered where he was, at least briefly, and took a step back, taking a moment to pick up his chair and straiten his books, intent on ignoring Poo.  In the meantime the agent stole a quick glance at Ness and removed his sunglasses.

"That's not why I'm here, though. I was sent by Professor Andonuts to summon you."

Jeff finished organizing his things. "Figures." He walked past Poo, making sure to bump into his side roughly as he did so, and then left the room.  Poo lingered for a second, staring at Ness, and finally followed the youth. 

"I wonder…"

Ness' eyes flittered open slowly.  When they finally regained focus he noticed that he was laying face-down in an enormous desert. 

_I wonder if I'm dreaming…_

There was a moment of confusion while he pushed down on the sand and rose slowly to his feet.  He remembered everything up to the point where he grabbed the stone, but for some reason he still felt disoriented.  How did he get to this place? What had happened to Jeff?

Having no other real course of action, Ness decided to do the first thing that came to mind: walk.  He trudged silently towards a sand dune in the distance, not really sure if that would take him anywhere; it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Ness wasn't sure why he chose to walk in that particular direction, but he felt like there was an invisible force that was pulling him, calling to him from there. 

When he reached the top of the dune he realized why.

In the valley below were swarms of people crowded around a monumental pyramid made of a reflective black stone.  From Ness' vantage point the people looked like ants, and apparently there were thousands of them gathered there.  To the left of the pyramid was a giant oasis; the blue and green of the small lake and the palm trees surrounding it contrasted with the yellow of the desert sands.  Despite the heat of the desert climate, no one was near there; whatever was going on near the pyramid was more important to the masses walking about.

Ness slid carefully down the sandy slope and made his way down to the crowd.  For some reason unbeknownst to him his head was not swimming with questions, like he expected it to; as a matter of fact, everything that was happening felt somehow right, like he was being manipulated into this particular situation….like he was being shown a message.

Silently he made his way through the crowd, pushing the oddly-clothed people out of the way.  They, in turn, did nothing, seemingly ignorant of his presence.  Within minutes Ness had reached the front of the mass, and he stood face to face with an elegant man in a black robe.

The man held an ankh-shaped scepter in one hand and a golden goblet in the other.  He was chanting in a language Ness could not hope to understand and making grandiose gestures at the people in front of him and the pyramid to his back, which shone in the sunlight.  After this went on for a few minutes the man, apparently a priest, strode over to a large, wooden platform in not too far from Ness' left.  Sitting there, in a throne made of gold, was another man dressed in ornate clothing.  The jewelry hanging from his arms and neck obviously made him out to be the ruler of this place.  

The priest kneeled before the ruler and lowered his head submissively.  He held the goblet up as a sort of offering while the ruler took a knife from a green pillow offered to him by a servant.  Without so much as a word the ruler made a deep cut in his wrist and let the blood flow into the golden goblet until it was full.  Once that was done the ruler retrieved his hand with a grimace, and a servant nursed his arm by clamping a white bandage over it.  Ness could almost feel the ruler's pain, but he refrained from making any sort of sound.

The crowd fell completely and absolutely silent, and then dropped to their knees.  Ness didn't move, opting instead to continue staring at the priest as he made his way ceremoniously to a large, golden scarab incrusted on one of the lower stones of the pyramid.  He thrust the hilt of the ankh into a hole on the scarab's back, and then twisted it clockwise.  Immediately part of the wall began to rumble and shift until the mechanism on the inside of the pyramid was activated and the entire panel slid to the side, revealing, of all things…

"That tablet…"

The green stone was incrusted in the back of the small niche, surrounded by several carved hieroglyphics.  At the base of the tablet was a small pool of water, barely large enough for one person to submerge both feet inside.  The priest knelt before the pool and emptied the contents of the goblet into the pool, turning the water a murky red, and left the golden vessel in a specially crafted stand for it next to the bloody fountain.  After exiting the pyramid for the last time the door with the scarab on it closed and the priest removed the ankh.  Finally, in one broad motion the priest lifted the ankh over his head with both hands and snapped it in two with a fierce cry.

Ness creased his brow, sweat trickling down his right temple.  He began whipping his head around, suddenly aware of where he was, and he felt suddenly very vulnerable.  The people in the crowd, the ruler, and the priest had yet to notice his presence, but Ness knew that there was something wrong with the entire situation…something about what was happening here was just not right.  In desperation he looked straight up and uttered the first plea he could think of…

"Please…get me out of here…"

_Please get me out of here…_

Jeff crossed his legs and arms, rocking back and forth impatiently while Poo sat in the chair next to his inside Professor Andonuts' office.  The agent had removed his glasses, but his eyes were closed; Jeff inwardly made an aside in which he asked himself how the foreigner could remain so calm at all times.  He also asked himself why he couldn't do the same. 

The wooden door, now fully repaired, swung open, and Jeff's uncle's cane thumped against the floor of the office.

"Hello, Jeff. I'm glad to see you up and about," said the researcher as he eased himself into his chair.  It, like everything else in the office, was completely new; it was hard not to think ill of the way SANCTUARY allocated its funds.

Jeff did not in any way acknowledge his uncle's presence, and merely sat there.  The professor was expecting as much, although it still pained him slightly to see his only remaining relative like that.

"Kai, would you mind checking up on Paula? I haven't heard from her today."

The agent opened his eyes slowly and nodded, understanding the true request hidden behind the fake one. "Absolutely not," he said. "I'm on my way." 

Within moments the two members of the Andonuts clan were left to themselves.  At first neither spoke; one was too stubborn to speak first and the other was too busy struggling to find the correct words.  Finally all that the old man could come up with was, "Talk to me."

"I have nothing to say," replied Jeff. "Not to you. Not after what happened."

"I already told you what happened," retorted Professor Andonuts. "It was not you I shot, but—"

"Giygas? You told me that already, and I still don't buy it. I wasn't in control back there but I still saw everything. The shot hurt me too…" Jeff lowered his gaze. "…it still hurts now."

Andonuts leaned forward. "I did what I had to do to assure the safety of the tablet. Right now that's all that matters."

Jeff's eyes glazed over with tears as he stood abruptly and pounded his fists on the wooden desk. "And what about my family?! They died and you haven't even thought about it! All you think about is your damn tablets and those stupid prophecies!!"

"I did _not_," interrupted Andonuts, his tone suddenly deep and threatening, "wish for things to be this way. I brought you here because you are all that I have left. _Do not _make accusations like that ever again."

Jeff averted his gaze to avoid making eye contact and sat back down. "You say that but you called me here anyway."

"Meaning?"

The blonde scoffed. "Please, don't patronize me," he growled. "You called me here because you want to run tests on me, just like you did to Paula, and just like you want to do to Ness if he gets up, didn't you?"

Andonuts remained silent, but his eyes dropped.  He did not have a reply to that. 

Jeff rose once more and headed for the door. "I'll be in the Silent Garden," he commented as he opened the door. "This place is too much for me."

_This place is too much for me…_

Ness was standing in the same spot; however, now the entire desert was blanketed by darkness, and stars littered the sky.  It was difficult to describe just how the change occurred, since Ness was too bewildered to try and make heads or tails of it.  The people simply disappeared, and the sky became dark, just as if someone had turned off a very big light switch not too far away. 

Ness was about to turn and walk in another direction when the sound of someone approaching reached his ears.  He didn't bother to hide, knowing that he could not and would not be seen; instead he staid there and watched silently as the priest from before ambled up to the pyramid's entrance.  Ness saw him walk up to the pyramid and brandish the ankh scepter from before, which he had apparently mended himself. 

Ness frowned and whispered to himself. "What's he doing?"

The priest slammed the scepter into the scarab, and the door opened once more.  He stole into the niche and nearly disappeared from view, causing Ness to run forward and catch up.  The cover of night made it very hard to see.

The priest had his hand over the green stone and was speaking in the same language as before while he held his wrist over the small fountain.  Unlike the ruler, who drained his blood into a goblet, the priest was letting his blood fall directly into the small pool of water.  Once he was finished speaking he wrapped his arm in a bandage, retreated from the niche, closed it, and broke the scepter once more.  This time he made sure to break it several more times so that no one could rebuild it again.

Ness saw the priest stalk off once more. _Why did he come here?_

"Why did you come here?"

Professor Andonuts turned around and found Paula standing in the entrance to Ness' room in the infirmary.  She was carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"I needed to think some things through," replied the old man. "Some very important things concerning the decisions I've made lately."

Paula placed the bouquet on a nearby table and walked up to the professor, placing her hands daintily on Andonuts' shoulders. "Things have not gone how you wanted them to."

"No," replied Andonuts. "They have not."

Paula's grip tightened around her sponsor's back. "I trust you," she said simply.

Andonuts smiled and placed his hand on top of Paula's. "Thank you," he replied. "But I'm not too sure I've done the right thing by bringing you here…by bringing anyone here."

"Jeff?"

"Yes."

"I am sure that, deep down, Jeff thanks you for what you have done for him." Paula released her grip and picked up the flower bouquet again. "Now come. I finished that piece I was telling you about and I would like to play it for you."

Andonuts smiled weakly. "Of course."

He leaned on his cane and staggered to his feet with certain effort, and as a last measure placed his hand over the green stone in Ness' fist.  To his surprise, there was a spark, and he was forced to pull his hand away.  The noise drew Paula's attention very well. 

"Did something happen? Are you hurt?"

The professor waved her off dismissively, not willing to alarm her. "Not at all," he mused absently. "I…accidentally bumped my foot against the bed. Nothing to worry about."

Paula smiled, content, and left the room.  Andonuts soon followed, but his mind drifted to this new event. _What happened? _He thought to himself. 

"What's happening?!"

As if things could not possibly get any more confusing or bizarre, the world around Ness began to change for the worse.  The sky began flickering from day to night rapidly, while the oasis dried up before Ness' eyes and the plants within it withered away.  The black pyramid lost its sheen, and soon it was no more than an amorphous mound of black stone with a door on its side.

Before Ness could adjust to these new circumstances the fast-forward effects ceased and settled on daytime, and a fierce wind began flowing around Ness, lifting eddies of sand around him.  

"Hey, wait up!"

The voice of a woman drew Ness' attention to a point not too far to his left.  When he turned to identify the speaker, he was nearly bowled over by a man marching quickly towards the remains of the black pyramid.  He could not touch the man, and could not, therefore, be knocked over by his hurried march, but the surprise he felt was more than enough.

A young woman in her mid-twenties followed the man, trying and failing to keep up with him.  Ness was unable to identify either of the two individuals, so he followed them.

Upon reaching the pyramid Ness noticed that there was a team of men standing inside a tent near the entrance, talking amongst themselves.  A few of those stood by the deteriorated monolith, sweating in the blistering sun while they examined the door to the pyramid.  All of them wore tattered clothing and looked like they had been there for quite a few days now.

The man and the woman greeted the workers politely in another language; presumably a linguistic remnant of the tongue Ness had heard the priest use.  The workers indicated the door, and upon the man's command the others brandished large crowbars.  Within minutes they had pried the large stone door off its ancient hinges, and it fell onto the floor before the workers, defeated.  The man took a swig from a canteen dangling from a loop in his belt, and then stepped onto the now-collapsed door and into the niche; the woman followed. 

"I'm not too sure about this," said the woman uneasily as they stepped into the niche, with Ness right behind them. "Professor Andonuts specifically instructed us not to disturb anything."

Ness frowned. _Professor Andonuts? _

"You worry too much," retorted the man. "It'll be fine. I've gone over the papyri at least two times this week!" He turned to face the woman, but the sunlight that poured in from outside only illuminated him up to his chest, and his face remained an unidentifiable silhouette in the shadows. "Besides, you know that the sooner we finish this, the sooner we get out of here…" He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "…and the sooner you can get back to your children."

The woman nodded. "…maybe you're right."

Ness stepped into the niche as well.  The woman's face was still obscured from view, but he could tell that she was smiling.

"In any case, you have to take a look at this!" The man kneeled and pointed to the small pool that Ness knew all too well. "There's still water here. I think it's been contaminated by the acid naturally found in the stone, but it still hasn't evaporated. You think that means…" He drifted off gradually.

The woman nodded. "I think so…" She knelt down besides Max. "Oh Max, this is really it, isn't it? We finally found it…"

The man, now known as Max, nodded. "Giygas…"

Ness gasped.  If Giygas was here, then that meant that…

"No! Don't touch it!" Ness held out a hand to try and stop the two researchers.  The woman, apparently hearing Ness' plea, turned to face him, and Ness was able to glimpse at her face before Max dipped a gloved hand in the pool and there was a loud explosion…

Ness' pupils dilated. "Mom…"

"_Mom!!_"

The green stone in Ness' hand shattered and disintegrated, and then fell to the floor in pieces.  Ness shot up, sweat covering his face and his breath coming in raspy bursts.  Automatically he ripped off the IV tube in his arm and the hear monitor hooked up to his chest, and bound off the hospital bed.  He barged out of the room, bumping into his nurse in the process and knocking her down.  Too flustered to apologize, Ness rose and kept on running through SANCTUARY, barefoot and in his hospital robe.

Ness barged into the offices where he knew he'd find Andonuts, shoving aside anyone who got in his way, eliciting angry screams and swears from everyone he ran over.  Eventually he came upon the wooden door and swung it open. 

"Why was my mother working for you in Scaraba?!" Ness blurted out the question without thinking, without caring.  He almost didn't notice Dr. Andonuts' shocked expression, or the person who was in the room with him.

"Ness!" the old man rose from his seat. "You're…awake…"

The teenager pointed an accusing finger at the researcher. "You knew about Giygas! You knew and you still went to that pyramid! And my mother was there!" His hand dropped suddenly. "…she died that day…didn't she…"

Professor Andonuts hobbled over to Ness and put his hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "I know you must be very confused, but I can give you the answers you want if you just calm down. Do you understand?"

Ness' breathing became slower, and after a moment of silence he nodded. "But why…"

"Ah! This must be the other one you told me about. Ness, isn't it?"

Ness' eyes drifted over to the chair in front of Andonuts' desk.  Who he saw there almost made him faint once more. 

"I believe an introduction is in order," said the man dryly while walking up to Ness and extending his hand. "My name is Maxwell Labs, chief officer of the advanced chaos extermination squadron, DREAMERS."

Ness looked the man over in a panic, from his copper-colored hair to his green military uniform, down to his polished shoes. "You…you're the one…"

Instantly Ness leapt on him and grabbed his neatly-folded collar. "That wasn't acid in the water! It was blood! The blood was keeping the door sealed! You set it free and you didn't know it!"

Maxwell Labs frowned. "How did you…"

"That's quite enough," interrupted Andonuts calmly. "Ness, you have just suffered a very traumatic experience, and you have not fully recovered. Please, go back to the infirmary and rest."

Ness turned to Andonuts, panic in his eyes. "But I—"

"_Please_. This is for your own good…consider it a direct order." 

Ness tried to protest, but he quickly realized the veracity of his commander's words.  He let go of Maxwell Labs slowly and left the room without saying a single word.

Maxwell Labs straitened his tie. "Your taste in recruits is awful," he said despondently.

Andonuts shook his head and headed towards his chair once more. "That boy is more capable than you can ever imagine," he retorted. "As are all of my recruits. Never forget that."

"Please spare me the attitude, Professor," scoffed Maxwell Labs. "First that orphan from Dalaam, then the girl…"

"You were just as interested in Paula as I was."

"…then your nephew, who's _possessed by Giygas_…"

"And in full control of it, I assure you."

"…and now this lunatic boy. I daresay I have my work cut out for me."

Andonuts swiveled his chair around to face the watery curtain over the window. "I told you, I will not relinquish command of SANCTUARY to the Eagleland military."

"You don't have a choice. Starting tomorrow, DREAMERS will take control of any further military operations undertaken by SANCTUARY. Soon I'll be able to integrate your facilities into DREAMERS directly."

Andonuts sighed. "I will not allow you to carry out another Operation Giant Step."

Maxwell Labs cringed, as the professor had hit a soft spot. "The past is the past. All that matters now is victory." With those words he turned and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow, Professor. I'll let myself out," he added before leaving for good.  When he did Andonuts slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair and threw his cane to the floor.  _Maxwell…what has become of you?_

"What has become of the green stone?"

Ness looked at Paula from his hospital bed. "I don't know. I think it shattered when I woke up."

Jeff piped up from the plastic chair slightly behind Paula, without looking up from his book. "Maybe it really _was _a message, like from those spy shows where it self-destructs when it plays."

Ness shrugged.  He really couldn't make heads or tails of the issue, and he still didn't know why a message recorded millennia before had within it scenes from the not-so-distant past.  He decided to cast that problem aside for now and focus on a more accessible issue.

"What else can you tell me about this Maxwell Labs guy? I mean, besides what we already know," he asked Paula.

The girl shrugged and ran her hands over her blue dress. "I do not remember him at all," she replied. "He must have been here before my time."

"Poo's pretty tight-lipped about it," added Jeff. "He says it's none of our business. You think he's hiding something bad?"

Ness shook his head. "That man, your uncle, my mother, and Giygas…they're all connected somehow…"

Paula grabbed Ness' hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am sure you will figure it out soon enough. For now, it's better to get some rest. Will you come by my room later?"

Ness nodded halfheartedly.  Apparently satisfied with that answer, Paula bade Jeff a quiet farewell and left the room.

Jeff smiled, still not taking his eyes off his book. "Dude, she totally has the hots for you," he giggled.

The teenager chuckled softly. "Does not."

The chuckles soon grew into laughter, and that laughter soon turned into a cavalcade of guffaws as the two boys let out their worries.  After a few minutes of laughing they calmed down, and silence filled the infirmary.  Ness stared at his sheets and grabbed them tightly.

"Jeff…is what you said true? About your family?"

The blonde closed his book and laid it down on the table next to him.  His red eyes turned glassy for a split second.  He didn't seem too eager to answer that question, but there was no escaping it now.

"I found them the afternoon of the attack," he said. "I had to bury them in the park because there was no more space." His face turned grim. "Lots of people were buried there that day."

Ness sighed. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have asked you about that."

Jeff shook his head. "It's okay. For what it's worth, my uncle is still around." Suddenly his face donned a cheerful expression once more. "Besides, you need to worry about your own hide right now."

Ness smiled and extended his hand, which Jeff clasped with his own.  After flashing smiles to each other, Jeff grabbed his book and left the room. "I'm turning in for the night. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Sleep tight."

Jeff gave Ness a thumbs-up as the door slid open and he stepped out.  When he was in the hallway his smile disappeared once more, and he looked down at his hand, the one he had used to take Ness'.  His palm was red and swollen.

"It burns…"


	8. 8th Revolution: Vulnerability

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=8th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Vulnerability::_**

****

"Today is the beginning of a new era in the battle against the universal cosmic destroyer…we must embrace this bright new future, welcome it, for only by joining forces will we be able to overcome our adversaries and strike fear in their hearts! Together we will triumph in the name of…"

Maxwell Labs spread his hands wide in a grandiose gesture, like that of a proud king, and rested his eyes on the entire ensemble of SANCTUARY's forces, lined up in rows and standing straight in one of the base's assembly halls.  Ness and Jeff were in the back, with the lower classed soldiers; Orange let them borrow two of his old uniforms from his first days at SANCTUARY, which bore blue stripes instead of the usual red, so as to give them some degree of inconspicuousness. 

The speech, which had gone on for far longer than it should have, was doubly boring for Ness than for anybody else—his precognizant powers had decided to kick in the night before, and he knew Labs' speech by heart before the military man was even able to come up with it.  He tried his hardest to stand up straight, but his shoulders kept wanting to slump down, and his gaze faltered more than once. Inwardly he envied Professor Andonuts, if only because he wasn't present at the speech.

"…the commanding advantage that your assistance will provide to DREAMERS! Dismissed!"

Jeff shook his head and let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. I think my feet are glued to the floor…"

"Tell me about it," replied Ness. "I don't think I ever want to stand still in one place again as long as I live."

A large, moving blur to Ness' left side immediately drew his attention, and within seconds Apple skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Hey, Ness, Jeff, I'm glad I…" Apple swallowed hard. "…caught you. The Prof wants to see us at the Silent Garden now. That Labs character too."

Ness and Jeff glanced at each other.  The blonde adjusted his glasses. 

"We'll be right there," said Ness. "We just have to swing by Paula's room first."

"Oh, okay…" Apple nodded vigorously and spun on his heel, ready to take off in the opposite direction. "Just try not to take too long, okay?"

Paula welcomed her two friends with open arms, surprisingly. "I made a painting yesterday, and I think it depicts a sunset. Would you like to see it?" Her tone was uncharacteristically cheerful.

"Sure," said Ness. "Although…what do you mean, you _think_ it looks like a sunset?"

"Come and see for yourselves," quipped Paula, and within milliseconds she had already dragged both boys to a canvas splattered with red and yellow paints, mixing here and there to produce a spotty orange.  All in all it didn't look like a sunset at all.

"I have been working on it for a while now," commented Paula as Ness and Jeff studied it. "Do you like it?"

"It's very…abstract," said Ness.  The moment he said it he realized that his comment could be taken the wrong way, and he was quick to amend it with a, "but I like it a lot."

"Well, good!" Paula beamed. "I am glad. Perhaps you might like to hang it up in your room…"

Jeff was quick to wave her off. "Um, we'd love to, really, but…" his eyes darted around in search of an excuse; they found none.  The blonde was forced to look at his watch in an improvisational manner. "Oh, look at the time, gotta run, sorry we can't stay," he said hurriedly while he grabbed Ness' arm, taking care not to make contact with his skin, "We'll talk later, okay?"

"All right," replied Paula. "Let me know when you have time."

"Will do," answered Ness, still being half-dragged by Jeff. "Bye!"

The moment they were outside the door Jeff released his friend and breathed a sigh of relief. "Did anything about that seem wrong to you?" he queried.

Ness nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen her this cheerful. It was kind of awkward…"

"Plus it's the first time she's ever mentioned not being sure about something she made," finished Jeff. "You think maybe she's going through one of those days?"

Ness rolled his eyes. "You're imagining things," he said. "…I think. Now come on, we're already late as it is."

As was to be expected, Labs was pacing impatiently along the Silent Garden by the time Ness and Jeff arrived.  Professor Andonuts and Poo didn't seem to mind, as they were sitting at a table, and the researcher was sipping tea; even Apple and Orange seemed to be enjoying themselves by chattering during the downtime, something that made Maxwell Labs' ire seem all the more dramatic.

"I don't you how they did things when _you_ got here," sneered Labs while pointing threateningly at Ness with his finger. "But I run a tight ship. When I say I want to see you now, I mean _now_. Got it?"

Ness gulped nervously. "Yeah—I mean, yes sir."

"Good." Maxwell Labs regained his composure somewhat. "Now, I called you here because I want to send you—all of you—on a mission of the utmost importance. I'm sending you to Onett."

Orange raised an eyebrow, and it arched over the rim of his sunglasses. "Onett, sir? What's in Onett?"

Andonuts cleared his throat. "We suspect that a Giygas swarm similar to the one in Fourside is planning to attack there."

Maxwell Labs scoffed indignantly. "Correction, _I _suspect it. _My _contacts were the ones to detect an anomaly near the western coast, not yours."

Professor Andonuts sighed; he had been dealing with this attitude ever since Maxwell Labs arrived. "Regardless of who detected it, we need you to go and stop it. If at all possible, detain Giygas before it reaches the city. Understood?"

"Loud and clear," said Ness. "When are we leaving?"

"Immediately," said Poo, who stood from his chair. "This mission is covert, so we need to change into civilian outfits. I suggest you get moving."

The others turned to leave when Maxwell Labs raised a hand. "One moment. There's one more thing. One of my guys is going with you."

"What?" Poo removed his sunglasses and looked to the professor. "I thought we were the only ones going along on this mission."

"As did I," added Andonuts quizzically. "I was informed that this mission would involve SANCTUARY only."

"It's a last minute change," said Maxwell Labs dismissively. "He'll meet you in the hangar in half an hour." He smiled, satisfied. "_Now _you may go."

Ness and Poo traded looks, but said nothing.  They simply marched out of the Silent Garden with their friends, and then went their separate ways.

Half an hour later Ness arrived at the hangar and found Poo speaking distractedly with a young man of around his age, dressed in green clothes and running a hand through his brown hair, which hung in bangs around his face.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Tony," said the youth when Ness approached him. "Commander Labs sent me. I'll be coming with on this sortie."

"Um…pleased to meet you," said Ness.

"Tony was just telling me about the details of this mission, which Commander Labs somehow forgot to give us." Poo said that last phrase with a more than evident tone of acrid indignation. "Apparently, we can't let anyone know we're there, which means no psychic powers for the duration of the mission."

"What?" Ness' brow furrowed. "What do you mean no psychic powers? How do they expect us to defend ourselves?"

"You'll see that psychic powers are not necessary when battling Giygas," interrupted Tony. "We have done it before and have obtained great results."

Ness noticed a slight, derisive scoff from Poo, but decided to ignore it.

Shortly thereafter Apple, Orange, and Jeff arrived.  It was hard not to stare at the two technicians, neither of whom Ness had seen out of uniform until that moment, but, like most of the things he had seen that day, Ness chose to ignore them.  The five members of SANCTUARY plus one boarded the Sky Runner that had been set up for them, and within minutes they had taken off.

"So, why are we _really _going on this mission?"

Jeff had made the question instinctively, not really thinking about whether or not he had said it out loud.  Not surprisingly, Tony was the first to try and quell any possible insurgence with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Commander Labs already briefed you, you're supposed to—"

"We heard him the first time," interjected Orange, eager to get into the conversation. "And we know he's lying out of his ass."

Tony sighed, smile still plastered on his lips. "What makes you say that?"

Orange scoffed. "Look at us. We're in civvies, Ness and Poo are barred from using their powers…it's all too suspicious."

"He wants to get us out of the way."

Orange turned to look at Poo, who was sitting calmly in his place with arms crossed and closed eyes obscured by his sunglasses. "Meaning?"

"Think about it." Poo raised a hand and began pointing to each person in the Sky Runner as he mentioned them. "Jeff, the boy who's presumable 'infested' with Giygas; Ness, the wild card who was let into SANCTUARY at a moment's notice; Professor Andonuts' personal assistant and bodyguard."  Suddenly his hands waved over Apple and Orange. "Two scientists to make it look official…" finally, he jabbed his thumb at Tony.

"…and finally, one of his own men to baby-sit.  He wanted to get rid of anyone who posed a threat to his plans." He lowered his sunglasses and cast a piercing stare at the DREAMERS soldier. "Am I right?"

"Commander Labs only wishes the best for both his men and for you," replied Tony smoothly, flicking an unruly bang of hair out of his face.

"But then, what's he planning?" Apple twiddled his thumbs, his nerves jittered by the conversation at hand. "Do you think he wants to take over SANCTUARY?"

"Nothing of the sort," replied Tony quickly, eager to end the discussion post-haste. "Commander Labs made it explicit at this morning's speech…"

"Which was delivered only to SANCTUARY members," retorted Jeff.

Tony's smile faded. "Listen, I'm telling you, this isn't a diversion."

"We never said this mission was a diversion."

Ness had hit a nerve.  Tony withdrew after that and replaced his plastic smile.  He reached out and placed a reassuring hand on Jeff's thigh, and gave it a squeeze. "Look guys, I'm serious. There's nothing going on. Please, just try to relax."

Jeff squirmed uncomfortably and silently wrestled his leg away from the cadet's grip.  No one else seemed to notice.

After a few excruciatingly uncomfortable minutes of silent flight, the Sky Runner's hydraulic legs touched down softly on a wooded area near a hill in uptown Onett.  The six passengers descended warily; while Apple and Orange extracted their equipment from the craft's interior Poo reached for the pocket in his sleeve and withdrew his phone.

"This is Kai Poo," he said. "We have touched down at our target destination. What are our orders?"

"I can tell you that," replied Tony. "First, Apple and Orange may use their equipment to scan for abnormalities. In the meantime, the rest of us will patrol the city. May I suggest splitting up into pairs?" As he said those last words Tony's eyes fixated on Jeff.

Poo stored his cell phone. "I agree. You can go with Jeff."

Jeff's red eyes were filled with panic. "What?! Why can't I go with Ness?"

"You two will probably goof around if you're together," said Poo matter-of-factly. "This way we can focus. If we're going to be used as bait then we might as well be prepared."

Jeff looked pleadingly at Ness, who shrugged. "We'll meet back here in two hours, then," he suggested. "That way we can share what we found, right?"

"Good thinking," chirped Tony. "We'll reconvene in two hours."

Ness caught Poo stalking off and jogged to catch up to him, but not before he looked at Jeff, who seemed to plead, "please hurry" through his eyes.  He tried to signal a response, but before long he was out of Jeff's sight.

"You know, this town isn't half bad. I could really picture myself living here."

Ness dug his hands into his pockets and breathed in the quaint, small-town atmosphere of downtown Onett with relish.  Currently he and Poo were walking down a small avenue of stores and restaurants, each one colorfully decorated and bustling with people.  There weren't many cars to pollute the air around them, and the fresher air this brought as a consequence seemed almost palatably delicious to Ness.

"Normally I'd agree, now isn't the time to be talking about things like that," said Poo.

"Why not? Haven't you ever thought about what you're going to do after this is over?"

"…'this'?"

"Yeah, you know, this thing with Giygas. I mean, it's gotta end sometime, right?"

Ness' last phrase stirred something within Poo, and he decided to nip that conversation in the bud then and there. "…you picking up on anything, kid?"

"Nope, not yet," replied Ness dreamily. "I'm drawing blanks…"

Suddenly, a piercing scream met Ness' ears.  He and Poo looked briefly to each other before their imaginations took effect, conjuring images of monsters attacking the populace before anyone could prevent it.  They both took off running in the direction of the scream, and after rounding a corner found its origin.

Two teenagers in scrappy clothes held an elderly woman pinned against the wall of a building while a third, dressed in a pink suit, teased her neck sadistically with a knife.  His slicked-back, blonde hair shone in the midday sun; his blue eyes were obscured by sunglasses.  He didn't look much older than Poo.

"It's just a few gang bangers," mused Poo from afar, somewhat relieved. "Leave them be."

Ness cocked an eyebrow, aghast. "What? They're mugging an innocent old lady…can't we do _something_?"

"It's not our duty to involve ourselves with trivial affairs."

"Our _duty _is to protect people," retorted Ness. "Isn't that what we'd be doing now?"

Poo adjusted his shades coolly and straitened his clothes.  Inwardly he knew that Ness would help that old lady, with or without him.  Finally he gave Ness a nod, showing the boy that he conceded to rescuing the old woman.  The youth smiled in satisfaction and took off towards the three criminals.

"Hey, you guys!" Ness ran up to the three gangsters with clenched fists, while Poo lingered a few steps behind him.

The gangster in pink, apparently the leader, turned his head calmly towards Ness; his knife was still trained on the old lady's neck, who was struggling to keep the blade away from her skin. "And just who might you be?"

"It doesn't matter! Let that woman go!"

The man in pink chuckled. "Looks like we got a couple of heroes here," he said coyly. "We don't have those in Onett anymore…you must be from out of town."

"So what if I am?"

The leader of the gang glanced at his two henchmen and jerked his head towards Ness and Poo.  Immediately the two scraggly teens let go of their prey, who took advantage of the situation and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her.  The one in pink sheathed his knife in his buttoned-up jacket and adjusted his loosely-made tie.

"I think we should teach you guys a lesson in Onett-style politeness," he snickered. "Rule number one: never, _ever_, mess with the Sharks."

The two lesser gangsters lunged at Ness and Poo angrily.  Ness lashed out with his fist and connected with one of them; Poo merely stood there, arms crossed, and let his attacker come to him.

When his aggressor was close enough, Poo flicked his hand out and extended two of his fingers, catching the gangster's fist.  With one quick, elegant motion he then grabbed the teenager's wrist and flipped him over by the arm.  The gang banger landed painfully on his back and was unable to find the strength to get back up.

Ness, although not as graceful as Poo, was obtaining similar results.  He grappled with his own opponent for a moment before kneeing him in the stomach, after which Ness grabbed him by the collar and flung him face first into a nearby wall.  He slumped down, unconscious, immediately.

The gangster in pink furrowed his brow and reached for his knife, a look of anger plastered across his face.  He was about to lunge when the sound of a siren filled the air around them.

"Damn it, the cops…" he quickly stored his knife and began running in the opposite direction, away from Ness and Poo. "You'll pay for that! You better watch yourself from now on!"

Ness breathed a sigh of relief as a white police car skidded around the corner and screeched to a halt a short distance away.  Two policemen stepped out of the squad car and ran over hurriedly to the scene. 

"Looks like he got away this time," remarked one of them. "He left his buddies behind, though."

"Yeah." The other policeman caught sight of Ness and ran up to him. "You two! Just what were you doing out here?"

"We saw some gangsters picking on an old lady," replied Ness. "We just wanted to help."

"Well, looks like you got lucky this time," said the cop. "Next time, though, you might just get hurt. The Sharks are a mean bunch; you don't wanna mess with 'em."

"So we heard," said Poo. "Just who are they, anyway?"

"Newest and baddest gang in town," replied the cop. "They're led by some punk named Frank Fly. He's about yay high, blonde, wears a suit."

Ness dug his hands in his pockets once more. "That's the guy we just saw…he ran away when he heard you coming."

"Figures." The policeman and his partner, who had handcuffed the two younger gangsters, ushered their quarry into the car and got inside. "You better watch out for Frank and his guys, you hear?" said one of the policemen. "One wrong move and you're history."

With those parting words, the car drove away and left Ness and Poo by themselves in the middle of downtown Onett.

An hour later Ness and Poo rendezvoused with their other teammates on the hill where they had landed.  Apple and Orange had managed to conceal the Sky Runner with the help of some leaves, and were still calibrating some very sophisticated-looking devices on a portable table.  Jeff and Tony were there as well; the blonde looked much more at ease and much less like the nervous wreck he had turned into two hours before.

"We didn't find anything in the city," announced Poo. "What about you guys?"

"Nada," replied Jeff. "This city's really boring. Pretty, but boring."

"We've heard some police reports on our scanner about a gang running around, but that's it," chimed in Apple, who had a set of headphones placed loosely over one ear as he worked on a device, presumably a computer. "Also the weather service says it's going to rain tomorrow. No sign of anything else, though."

"Yeah, we got nothing," added Orange. "We checked the sky _and _the sea, just in case, but we haven't found a thing."

Agent Poo removed his sunglasses; it was starting to get dark. "Oh well. In that case we should think about finding a room for the night. We'll continue monitoring from there."

There was a collective nod.  The two technicians began putting their things away and packing them up when Tony noticed something unusual near his feet.

"What a strange species of flower," he commented.

The DREAMERS cadet bent down to pick it up when his actions drew the attention of both Ness and Jeff, who stared at the plant curiously.  The former gasped in surprise.

"Don't touch it!" Ness ran up to Tony and grabbed his hand, which was a mere centimeter from touching the blood-red petals of the flower.  As he got close to the plant his pupils dilated.

Jeff joined Ness and delicately plucked the flower, taking care not to get his fingers pricked by the multitude of thorns covering the stem. "It's Giygas…I can feel it," he said. "This flower's been infested by it."

Orange shot Jeff a quizzical look. "Really? How's that possible? We ran a soil check as soon as we got here."

Apple looked up from his equipment. "We did?"

Orange glared at his partner. "Didn't _you _do it?"

Apple gulped. "I thought _you_ did."

Poo walked up to the scientists and gave them one of his piercing stares. "In that case, I think you better do it now," he said sternly.

Apple reached into the pile of equipment at his feet and produced a small silver case, which he tossed at Orange.  The latter then opened it up and extracted two electrodes attached to wires, which he dug into the ground.  After adjusting some knobs and typing a few commands into the small number pad inside, he was joined by Apple, and the two laboratory workers stared at the readout intensely.  Everyone else waited a short distance away, anticipating the verdict anxiously.

After a few seconds Apple and Orange looked to their companions and gave them the only answer they could.

"Oh crap."

Shortly thereafter the scientists packed up as many of their things as they could and took off after their co-workers, who had begun running in the direction of downtown Onett.  There were still several people outside, despite the fact that it was dusk; they lingered from cafés to restaurants and back, oblivious to the imminent destruction of their town.  Thus, they reacted in the most natural way when Ness, Jeff, and Tony began running down the street, yelling for everybody to go home and hide, and to stay away from any strange plants…

…they ignored them.

The SANCTUARY agents, determined to warn everybody despite what they thought of it, rounded a corner and headed into a deserted street lined with old buildings, with Ness and Poo in the lead.  Surprisingly, they crashed into a pink-clad figure with slick blonde hair almost immediately.

"Hey, watch it!" Frank Fly got up and dusted his vintage polyester off, unaware of who had bumped into.   When he saw Ness and Poo lying in the ground in front of him, his eyes filled with anger and he reached for the knife in his coat. "You two! First my crew, now me? I'm gonna make you pay!"

Ness held up a hand to try and stop Frank.  Jeff and the others looked on, confused. "Look, we don't have time for this," he explained hurriedly. "You need to get away from here as fast as possible."

"No way, you're not getting away from me this time," snarled the gangster. "I'm going to cut you right here, right now!"

Frank was about to lunge when Ness caught sight of something very big behind Frank.  His pupils dilated, as his worst fears had been confirmed.

"Look out!" Ness tackled Frank to the ground mere seconds before a massive, insect-like creature swooped down and tried to grasp at the spot where Frank's head was previously.  The insect flew back up with a buzzing noise and sped around the corner before anyone had a chance to look at it.

"Was that…" gasped Jeff.

"A bee," said Tony, eyes wide. "It's a giant bee…"

Poo ran after the Drone-Giygas as it rounded the corner, and was greeted with the sounds of loud buzzing, glass breaking, and people screaming.  The insect, which was apparently by itself, was preparing to swoop down on an innocent bystander when the agent lashed out with his hand and shot a star-shaped discus of energy; the blast connected with the insect in mid-air and sliced it cleanly in half, showering the innocent man in fetid entrails.  By then he was the only one left still there, and he ran away as quickly as possible.

"What the hell is that thing!" yelped Frank, who had taken to following Ness and the others as they ran towards Poo. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"We don't have time to explain," replied Jeff. "But it's bad, trust us. You got a place where we can hide?"

"Me and my crew hang around the old arcade two blocks from here," replied Frank, out of breath.

Tony jogged next to Frank and pulled out a billfold from his pocket, which held his identification card, and flashed it at Frank. "In that case, in the name of the Eagleland Military I'm commandeering your establishment as a shelter. Get everybody you can and gather them up there, understand?"

Frank's blue eyes nearly jumped out of his skull. Say _what?!_"

"There's no time to argue," interjected Jeff, who grabbed Frank's arm and led him away. "Let's move!"

Apple and Orange trudged behind the others as best they could, but their equipment was heavy and they had to stop to catch their breaths.  Orange's face was covered in sweat, not just because of the fatigue, but also because of his own scorn for his mistakes.

"It was the soil! It manifested in the soil so the plants could absorb it, and then it let the bees get infected through the pollen!" his lament fell only on Apple's ears. "What an idiot! How could we have missed the soil?!"

Apple tried to comfort his co-worker. "Look, there's nothing we can do now…let's just get moving and hope that the bee was the only thing infested."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Orange quipped back angrily, eyes on the brink of overflowing with tears. "That was just a solitary bee! What do you think is going to happen when the pollen gets taken to a beehive?!"

Apple answered Orange's question by pointing to a spot in the distance. "That."

Orange straitened up and looked to the place Apple was indicating with his hand.  There, on a distant hill in the middle of a wooded area, was a gigantic beehive, a cylindrical monstrosity that towered over the city and was crawling from top to bottom with monstrous bees.  Several monstrous vines had grown around its base to provide the structure with support; the infernal buzzing reached his ears even at that distance.

Orange's glasses slid to the tip of his nose, and his jaw fell open.  For the second time that day, he uttered the only two words he could come up with to describe that situation.

"Oh _crap_."


	9. 9th Revolution: Adversity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=9th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Adversity::_**

****

Ness had not felt this uneasy in a long time; specifically, not since the first attack on Fourside all those months ago.  Naturally, while he tried to maintain a calm and collected outer expression, his insides were screaming.  The confusion he felt reminded him too much of his home town and the way it had been reduced to ashes.

He and his friends were sitting on a wooden bench in the Sharks' arcade in downtown Onett.  The small, cramped building had been filled with as many people as had been possible, around sixty, and the constant, dronish chatter of the people, which included children, screaming babies, and several older folk, compounded with the rush of memories from his recent past, was slowly gnawing on Ness' patience; the lack of electricity wasn't helping, either.  A quick glance at Jeff, who was staring out through the arcade's front window, and at Tony, who was staring at Jeff, proved to Ness that he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"There! Done," Orange beamed proudly at the two small rods he had placed on each corner. "With any luck, the configuration of those rods should keep anything too nasty from coming near this building. It should hold for a while, until we figure out what to do."

Frank Fly peered over the scientist's shoulder at the strange rods sticking out of the ground, and then glanced at Apple, who had been trying to contact SANCTUARY with no success for the past several hours.  Finally, he looked to Ness; deciding that the boy was probably the most tolerable of the bunch, he walked over and plopped down next to him.

"So this…_thing_ that attacked…is it an alien or something?"

Ness pursed his lips. "I think so," he replied. "Not sure."

"And what's it doing here?"

Ness shrugged.  The gangster cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Figures."

After a moment of silence Ness spoke without turning to face Frank. "What happened to your gang? Shouldn't they be around here somewhere?"

The gangster leaned back and cushioned his head on his hands. "There's not that many of them. They probably ran away."

"Oh."

More silence.  One of the people in the arcade began coughing, and a baby started to cry.

After a few minutes Kai Poo walked around the corner of the street and ambled inside the arcade.  His clothes were torn in a few spots, and there was a small cut on his cheek, but he looked none the worse for wear as he dragged Apple and Orange to where everyone else was and huddled them together.

"There's more and more bees," he said, his tone calm and icy. "On top of that, there's a big anthill next to it…I think Giygas got to some other animals as well."

"Great," muttered Jeff. "What more could go wrong?"

Apple shrugged. "Conceivably, anything that comes into contact with the pollen from the flowers, directly or indirectly, is at risk. Let's just hope we can hold our own before things get too nasty."

Just then, as if to illustrate his point, a very large ant marched in front of the arcade.  It didn't look that different from a regular ant, except for the fact that its jaws were now huge, disproportionately so, and a row of spines grew out of its back sloppily.  True to Orange's words, the insect walked past, oblivious to the people in the arcade.  That did not, however, stop the children from bursting into tears and several people from fainting.

Tony glanced at his watch. "It's almost dawn," he commented. "Things are going to get a lot worse in a couple of hours."

Nobody said anything.  They were too frightened to acknowledge that statement.

A short woman with an infant in her arms stood up from the middle of the crowd and made her way over to Poo, tugging his sleeve softly. "Excuse me, sir..." she pleaded. "My baby is starving…he needs to eat soon…"

Poo looked at the woman.  Suddenly his eyes grew very wide.

_"Your Majesty! The monsters have broken through!"_

_A man in uniform ran into a large room made of marble and decorated with gold and jade. He fell to his knees in front of a throne carpeted in satin.  Sitting there was a tall, elegant man._

_"And the artillery?"___

_"Gone, sir.__ The monsters can fly and…they killed our riflemen before we could respond…"_

_"I see." The man on the throne turned to a small boy standing next to him.  He took the boy in his arms and smiled. "Kai…it is happening…the prophecy is coming to pass. Do you remember what you have to do?"_

_The boy lunged at his father and dug his face into the man's chest. "But, father…I don't want to go!"_

_"Be strong, my son. This too is a test of your courage. You must take your mother and sister, and run."_

_"But…"_

_The man silenced Kai by placing a finger over his lips. Slowly he rose and reached for the elegant jade sheath that hung from his belt.  Without as much as a word he unbuckled the sword and placed it in the boy's arms. It was almost as long as the boy was tall, and he had to hug it with both arms to keep from dropping it._

_"The Jun Zhu Tan…"_

_The man placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "As long as you have this sword, our kingdom will not die…promise me that you will take this sword in your hands only to defend the weak."_

_Tears fell from the boy's eyes. He nodded, and then turned to his mother, a short woman who held his infant sister in her arms._

"Poo? Poo! Hello, earth to Agent Poo!"

The agent shook his head abruptly and pulled his gaze away from the woman to face Ness, who was now standing.

"What?"

Ness frowned, surprised at the agent's lack of attentiveness. "I said we're going to go get some food. Frank knows a supermarket a few blocks from here."

Poo cocked an eyebrow. "No way. You stay here, I'll go."

Jeff shook his head and forced Poo to sit on the bench where he was before. "You just came back from patrol. This won't take long, and we'll be back before daybreak, alright?"

"You expect me to stay here while you four go out and risk your lives? I don't think so."

Tony smiled that plastic smile of his. "Listen, we still need someone to stay here, just in case. You can protect everyone until we return. Think of it as rest."

Before Poo could answer Ness, Jeff, Tony, and Frank walked out of the arcade and ran off.

"You know, I don't get you people," said Frank as he led the others to the location of the supermarket they were planning to raid. "You say you want to help us, but then only six of you show up? What's wrong with you people?"

Ness rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of a building overrun by vines.  Every building on that block had been destroyed. "We don't really know, either," he replied. "You'll have to take it up with Tony's commander."

"Commander Labs knows very well what he's doing," retorted Tony, somewhat indignantly. "I'm sure he has already thought of a way to get us out of this mess."

"Your beloved 'Commander' is full of crap," said Jeff. "He sent us here as cannon fodder, and you know it!"

Tony looked hurt, but did not reply.  Instead he let Frank lead the group to the supermarket he had spoken of.  It, like almost everything in Onett, had been decimated by Giygas, and now stood as a testament to its destructive power.  Ness climbed in through one of the windows in the front, and then helped the others inside.  Wordlessly they split up so as to cover more ground, grabbing several plastic bags from a counter nearby.

Ten minutes later the group reconvened with their bags full of supplies.  Jeff had stopped by the hardware section of the market, and he held several useful tools in his hand, such as rope and a knife.  Once more without speaking the group headed towards the window and prepared to leave when Ness' pupils dilated. 

"Wait!" Ness hissed mere seconds before Frank reached the window.  The gangster turned to the youth and looked at him quizzically before Jeff pulled him down.  A large, monstrous bee chose that moment to fly past the exact spot where Frank was.

"Great, _now _what do we do?"

"We can't let them spot all of us," whispered Tony.  He handed the two plastic bags in his hands to Ness and prepared to rise. "I'll get its attention, and you three can run back to the arcade in the meantime."

"That's crazy!" Jeff hissed at Tony. "You're suicidal!"

Tony glared at the blonde. "Do we have much of a choice? It's the only way we can get these supplies back safely!"

Before anyone could answer to that Tony leaped out the window, dead-set on carrying out his plan, and began waving his arms frantically while yelling at the top of his lungs.  Needless to say, he succeeded in getting the drone-Giygas' attention.

"That idiot!" Jeff's hands balled into fists. "He's going to get himself killed!"

"In that case, let's make sure he doesn't die in vain!" Frank grabbed his two current companions and hauled them out into the street.  Unfortunately for him, Ness stopped him mid-flee and faced Tony.

The bee swooped down and craned its stinger forward, its bulging eyes fixed on Tony.  The latter dived to the side, but not before the stinger grazed his side, drawing blood.  The cadet tumbled clumsily to the floor while the bee flew up and prepared for another strike.  Tony, who was badly injured and could barely stand, laid there, half-conscious, while the insect swooped down a second time.  This time, though, its attempts at killing its prey were thwarted by a flash of bright light that illuminated the area momentarily and stunned it.  The drone crashed to the floor before taking flight once more and fixing its sight on the new attacker, a boy in a red cap a short distance away.  It disregarded Tony for the moment and rushed to attack its new prey, but before it could even come close it was stopped by an invisible wall.

Ness held the bee at bay with a wave of telekinesis while he jerked his head to Frank and Jeff.  The two ran around to the bee's back unflinchingly and used the knives in their hands to stab at the creature's stinger frantically.  With some effort they managed to pry the huge spike out of the monsters body, dragging half of its entrails along with it.  When Ness let it go, the bee spiraled around in pain, dripping green ooze all over the street before finally landing on its back, twitching slightly.  Within seconds it was dead.

Tony grunted as Jeff lifted him up and draped his arm around his shoulder. "I thought I told you that psychic powers were prohibited," he wheezed while clutching his side.

Jeff glared at him. "Yeah, like we'd listen to you," he retorted.

Tony managed to smile. "In any case, I'm glad that you did," he said.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt the moment, but we got company!" Frank pointed at a spot in the distance.

Tony craned his head around and spotted the two ants that were fast approaching from behind.  While the others weren't looking he reached into a pocket in his pants and produced a small, metallic pistol.  He dipped his thumb into the wound in his side, and then placed it on a small, circular plate on the side of the hilt.  Instantly the gun came to life, and he pointed it at the two approaching insects.  After pulling the trigger, he and Jeff were almost knocked back by the recoil of two streaking bolts of lightning that fired from the muzzle and penetrated the mutated monsters, killing them almost instantly.

Jeff stared at the smoking muzzle of Tony's gun. "What _is_ that thing?"

Tony smiled. "It fire electromagnetic rounds, but it can only fired if the hilt comes into contact with the gun's owner's blood," he explained.

"You mean you have to be wounded for it to work? Why?"

"At DREAMERS, we've sworn to eliminate Giygas or die trying," said Tony. "Emphasis on 'die'."

Ness joined Jeff and took Tony's other arm. "We don't have time for this," he said sternly. "Let's get back to the arcade before that thing's friends get here."

Frank took the rest of the shopping bags in his hands while the trio of Ness, Jeff, and Tony hobbled along.  They were still six blocks away from safety.

Back at the arcade, Apple had finally managed to break through and contact his superiors.  The tiny LCD screen on his console glowed white with the images of Professor Andonuts and Maxwell Labs.  Apple was quick to explain the situation to them, and predictably enough they did not react well.

"How many casualties are there? I want a body count _now_," yelled Labs. 

"We don't know," answered Apple. "We haven't seen anyone in the street, but we're not ruling anything out yet. What do we have to do?"

"Stay there!" barked Labs. "DREAMERS will handle this. We're sending a battalion to deal with the situation…they will more than make up for your continued incompetence."

Apple grimaced.  He knew very well that Labs had set them up against impossible odds and expected them to fail from the very beginning. "So…we just head back to our transport then?"

"What transport? I recalled it back to base using the navigational computers hours ago."

Apple grabbed his console and shook it vigorously. "What?! Do you _want _us to die?!"

Maxwell Labs looked away, nonplussed.  Andonuts stepped in front of him and addressed Apple directly. "Stay strong, Apple. SANCTUARY will send a new transport as soon as possible.  Try to save as many as you can in the meantime. Who's there with you?"

"Orange, and Poo," said Apple. "Although…Poo's been acting kind of funny…"

As he said this he turned to glance at the agent, who was still sitting in the same spot, eyes glassy and distant.

_"Mother!__ This way!"_

_Kai dragged his mother through the burning streets of Dalaam, the Jun Zhu Tan tied to his back.  He tried very hard not to look at the charred, mangled corpses that littered the road, but his eyes kept wandering to them, and he couldn't help but feel that perhaps his father would meet a similar end._

_As they rounded a corner his mother tripped on a piece of debris and tumbled to the floor.  Her arms were clutching her infant child protectively.  So silent was her fall and so deep was Kai's concentration that he didn't even notice it until he realized that his mother's hand was no longer there.  He whirled around frantically and found his mother in a heap on the floor…and something very dark and sinister closing in on her…_

_"Mother!__ No!"_

Poo grunted and placed his hand to his forehead, wiping the sweat from his brow.  He noticed Apple chattering with the Professor on the console and immediately rushed over, shoving the pudgy scientist out of the way as he did so.

"Professor…"

"Ah…Kai, how good of you to join us," said Andonuts. "I need a status report."

Poo nodded. "Fortunately our early warning got out in time, and most people are hiding in their homes. There have been casualties, but not that many. We're holed up in a local arcade waiting for a rescue transport to arrive."

Maxwell Labs interjected again. "You don't deserve a transport! You failed and you have to deal with the consequences!"

Before the agent could answer to that Frank burst in the front door, carrying several plastic bags, which he unloaded onto Orange's unwilling arms.  He was out of breath; apparently he had run for several blocks with that heavy load.

"What happened to you?" Orange set the bags on the floor while Apple began handing out the contents.

Frank huffed and puffed wearily before answering. "There's a….huge swarm…Ness said to…run here…get help…they're injured…"

Poo's eyes narrowed.  He focused his attention back on the console. "Professor…"

"Don't worry. DREAMERS may be hesitant, but I hold no such compunctions. I will send a Sky Runner for you immediately."

The agent shook his head. "That's not it. There's something I need you to do for me."

"What is it?"

"I think you know."

Andonuts' face darkened. "…'It'?"

"I need for someone to put it in the Sky Runner. It's urgent."

The researcher's look did not change. "Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do."

"I don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," said Andonuts. "You know that. Don't let your past make you do things you'll regret later."

Poo's piercing gaze became even more so, reflecting his newly-hardened resolve. "Just do it…please."

Andonuts finally gave up and shook his head. "Very well," he sighed. "I will place 'it' in the Sky Runner for you. Keep this console on so that the Runner can zero in on your position, understood?"

"Understood. Kai Poo, out."

_Agent Kai Poo walked into the plush, classically-decorated office in SANTUARY HQ's administrative branch and sat down in one of the comfortable-looking leather chairs that were placed before Professor Andonuts' large, wooden desk.  The Professor himself was looking out the hemispherical window at the water that fell in front of it, making the landscape blurry._

_"How did it go?"_

_"It was…a disaster," said Poo. "We weren't able to get there in time. It was our mole…I'm certain of it."_

_"And the boy?"___

_"He has psychic abilities…I decided to bring him here because he seems very powerful."_

_"I understand. I will talk to him later on."_

_Poo rose and prepared to leave when he had a thought. "Professor, if I may…"_

_"Please do."_

_"Maybe we should send a team to Fourside…just in case we can still save someone."_

_"Absolutely not.__ It pains me to say it, but Fourside is lost to us. We'd be beating a dead horse."_

_"But…"_

_There was a pause before Andonuts spoke once more. "You can't save Dalaam, Kai. Not anymore. Please understand that."_

_The agent's penetrating gaze faltered. "I know."_

_"Do you?" The Professor rose and hobbled over to his protégé.  He placed his gnarled, bony hand on his shoulders. "Do you remember what you said to me the first time you were brought here, after Dalaam was destroyed?"_

_Poo nodded. "I said I would join you if I could help destroy Giygas."_

_The Professor nodded. "You also said that you would destroy them the first chance you got. I know you have grown much stronger, but there is no way you can stand up to a force that powerful by yourself. Now please, promise me that you will never let your vendetta get in the way of your rational judgment."_

_Poo looked into Andonuts' eyes._

Ness was knocked into a trash can roughly by a particularly large bee that slammed into him from behind.  He managed to roll away before the insect could deal the finishing blow, but he knew this was a fight he was losing, and fast.  Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bees and ants were closing in on him and his friends, and with one injured escape was practically impossible.  Jeff and Tony were holding their own, but Tony only had one electromagnetic pistol, and it could only fire so many bullets at a time.

Ness saw an ant closing in on Jeff from behind and launched a wave of psychokinetic energy to kill it.  Then he ran up to his friends and fire off a psycholuminescent blast that took out over half of the monsters in the area.  That last attack made his head swim, and he dropped to his knees.

"We can't go on like this!" Jeff helped Ness to his feet. "We're going to be overpowered soon!"

Tony pulled the trigger on his pistol and groaned when it would not fire. "I'm out of ammunition!"

The three youths backed up slowly against the wall of a building and pressed themselves against it, hoping against hope that the reinforced concrete would give way and let them through to where they could be safe.  Tony's grip on Jeff's shoulder tightened, and he latched on to his shirt protectively.  They knew as they gazed at the horde of monsters closing in on them that they were going to die.

Then, in a flash, the insects began dropping, one by one, as if something were slicing them apart.  The ants on the ground started waving their antennae around frantically in an effort to find this new threat, but they weren't quick enough to notice a figure dashing back and forth, killing them one by one.  After over a dozen monsters had dropped to the ground a bare-chested figure in white pants, his head completely bald except for a ponytail in the back, landed gracefully in front of the injured humans. 

"You kids okay?"

"We've been better," wheezed Ness. "We're glad you're here."

Poo stood in front of Ness and his friends.  An ornate, jade scabbard was clipped to his belt, and the blade it belonged to rested in his hand; the brilliantly-forged blade had several inscriptions along it, and a red bauble hung from the hilt.  The Jun Zhu Tan glowed with an almost tangible power, and it hummed with a metallic ring just by being brandished.

An ant marched forth and tried to catch Poo between its mandibles, but the agent stopped the beast with his blade, and with a quick swing he slashed its head in two, killing it.  A bee tried to swoop down on him, but Poo's movements were so quick that it and two other bees behind it fell before they had a chance to figure out what was going on.

"I want you to get in that alley behind me and hide," instructed Poo to his charges. "You should be safe there until this is over."

"And what are _you _going to do?"

"I'm going to end this."

Ness and Jeff glanced at each other, and then hoisted themselves back up.  They hid in the alley as they had been instructed; a bee or two tried to follow them, but Poo's sword punished them for that mistake swiftly. 

Once Poo had been freed from having to cover someone else's back he walked forward, quickly silencing anything that got in his way with a slash from the Jun Zhu Tan.  As he advanced he began picking up speed, until he was practically running through the army of insects, a white blur carving a path of death and destruction along the devastated streets of Onett.  Innumerable amounts of monsters fell in his wake as he made his way towards the giant beehive in the distance, intent on killing every single last insect that crossed him. 

Eventually a wall of ants formed in front of him, barring the agent access to the beehive and the anthill that stood beside it.  Not one to give up so easily, Poo took his sword in both hands and made a tremendous vertical slash downwards, and channeled his psychic energy through it.  The resulting shockwave knocked the ants down as if they were bowling pins, and hit several more behind them.  The entire thing had only lasted a few seconds, and Poo's offensive had only lasted for less than half an hour, but in that time the agent had managed to reduce the insect force by almost half.

But that much strain on Poo's system did not go unpunished; by the time he reached the beehive he was almost out of breath and had trouble standing.  His movements were becoming sloppy and, although under normal circumstances by this point he would have been completely out of commission, he was pushing himself to keep going.  He grabbed the Jun Zhu Tan in both hands again, focusing as much psychic energy into the mystical blade as he could, then slashed, releasing four humongous star-shaped discs of energy that flew into the beehive and chopped it into pieces.

An army of ants closed in on Poo, and he somersaulted out of the way, running towards the anthill now.  A particularly large ant made its way towards him, but Poo used it as a stepping stone to vault into the air and over the anthill's side.  Another explosion of psychic energy invaded his blade, and when he thrust it into the ground the resulting explosion decimated the gigantic mound or dirt.  It also threw Poo into the air and caused him to crash down a great distance away.

The agent barely staggered to his feet; his vision was blurry and his entire body ached.  The strain from the explosion had dislocated his left shoulder, leaving it useless.  He had just gotten to his feet when he dropped to his knees again.  Hundreds of insects began closing in on him.

At that moment a silver, flying saucer whizzed by and landed a few feet from him.  Ness emerged from it and created a wave of psycholuminescent energy that killed everything in the area while Jeff and Frank grabbed Poo's limp body and practically threw it into the Sky Runner.  Before anything else could be done the craft took off and flew away.

"Looks like the cavalry's here." Orange pointed to several, larger Sky Runners that could be seen through the small windows of the Sky Runner. "Better late than never, I guess."

Despite his injuries, Tony twisted his lips into a smile, a little more sincere than usual. "I told you Commander Labs would come," he said, relieved.

"He's still gonna be pretty mad once he finds out that you didn't complete your mission, though," said Jeff. "Speaking of which…what happened? In the end it almost seemed like you were on our side."

Tony smiled at Jeff. "Let's just say I had a change of heart," he said.  A bang of brown hair fell over his face, but he made no attempt at pushing it aside, probably because his body was too weak to do so on its own.

"Hey, hey…what's going on over there?" Frank Fly tapped his finger against one of the windows; the large Sky Runners were dropping several large, black canisters on the ground below.

"They're pulse bombs," answered Orange. "They emit a pulse that takes out anything Giygas-related within a hundred kilometer radius. Don't worry about the people, they'll be fine, it won't affect them."

Frank quieted down after that, unsatisfied with that answer.

"You failed," snarled Maxwell Labs at Tony, who was sitting in a bed in the infirmary a few hours later. "You were supposed to make sure they were eliminated…you were _supposed_ to make sure that SANCTUARY failed."

"I'm sorry, Sir," replied Tony. "I did what I could. I will accept any punishment you decide to give me."

"You're damn straight you will!" Labs almost lunged at Tony at this point, but restrained himself given the fact that the cadet was injured and he was in a hospital room under heavy surveillance. "Because of your failure SANCTUARY has never looked better! I only _wish_ we had that kind of publicity!"

"With all due respect, Sir…I didn't realize our objective was obtaining publicity."

Maxwell Labs snarled quietly at Tony before leaving the room.

That night, Ness and Paula headed out of the SANCTUARY base and to a small hill just outside of the Silent Garden.  The hill overlooked the valley they were in, and was probably the most private place in all of SANCTUARY HQ.  Granted, Ness took a lot of guff from Jeff for taking Paula somewhere so private, but after the ordeal they had lived in Onett the blonde couldn't say he wouldn't have done anything different.

"You must be exhausted after so much," commented Paula, who sat beside Ness. "Are you sure you don't want to go to bed?"

Ness shook his head reassuringly. "I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, really."

"Why? Is there something on your mind?"

"I guess you could say that." Ness' gaze turned skyward, as if he was looking for something there. "It's just…I wonder how Poo is?"

"I don't think he's that badly injured," commented Paula blankly.

"That's not it. Back in Onett he seemed…different, somehow. Something troubled him…"

Paula smiled.  She had finally figured out what Ness was getting at.

"You want to know what Poo is thinking."

"Yeah…"

_"Take this! And that! I, Prince Kai Poo of Dalaam will protect our country from evil!"_

_A little boy stood triumphantly over a slipshod dummy made of cloth and stuffed with straw. The stuffing had been knocked out at a few points.  The boy held up a stick as he proclaimed his victory.  Watching from afar was an elegantly-dressed man, his equally elegant wife, and the small baby she carried in her arms._

_"I feel safe knowing our country is in your hands, brave warrior!" Kai's father smiled at him, his hand resting on the hilt of the Jun Zhu Tan.  His mother remained silent, but her warm, comforting smile told Kai that she was proud of him, without the need for words._

_Kai posed with his wooden stick, trying to imitate his father as well as possible. "I'll protect everyone! Even my parents!"_

_Kai's mother chuckled. "Is that a promise?"_

A lone tear made its way down agent Poo's cheek.  Oddly enough, sitting in the darkness of his room, he was smiling.

_"Yes! I'll protect you…I promise!"_


	10. 10th Revolution: Insanity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-=10th Revolution=-_**

****

**_::Insanity::_**

****

The weeks after the Onett fiasco were relatively uneventful. The members of SANCTUARY had fallen into a dull routine, doing the same mundane tasks day in and day out, while those in higher levels of power were locked into a proverbial headlock; Maxwell Labs was still trying to force his radical agenda onto others, if for no other reason than to prove that he could, while Professor Andonuts retreated into a hermit-like state of studious contemplation and isolation. This left the lesser folk, such as Ness, time to goof around—not that such a thing was encouraged, but since Ness' only real use was in the field, there was little for him to do, other than participate in one of Apple and Orange's occasional experiments.

"Let me guess…" said Jeff one day over lunch while closing his eyes and placing his palm on his forehead. "Using my amazing psychic powers, I predict that you will spend this afternoon…with Paula."

Ness faked amazement and pretended to drop his fork. "As always, you are most wise and powerful, oh wise and powerful one." Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with Paula (on the contrary, they had grown quite close and he looked forward to visiting her afternoon); it was just that he had spent the afternoon the exact same way for two weeks straight by then, and it was starting to grow dull.

"Man, I tell you, it's like time froze or something," mused Jeff while he picked at his lunch. "If I were here by myself I'd have shot myself by now."

"Yeah…" Ness took a swig from his plastic cup. "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Actually, I already promised Tony I'd hang out with him," said Jeff wistfully. "Sorry…I guess it's just you and Paula tonight." The blonde flashed a snicker. "Not that you'd complain."

Ness shook his head, rising from his table as he did so. "Yeah, live it up, groupie," he giggled. "I'll see you later."

With those parting words Ness set off for the maze of white-washed corridors that housed, among other things, Paula's room. It might have been the fact that he had spent too much time holed up in the SANCTUARY base, but Ness could almost swear at that point that he could tell the corridors apart by then, without having to look at the labels etched in military font on the wall, like he had a map of the place in his head.

When he came upon Paula's room he noticed that the lights were off—she was painting, no doubt. He thought about tiptoeing inside quietly and surprising her, if only to see how she'd react, when the lights flickered on gently and he found himself standing within an inch of Paula's face.

"Do you think it's too much?"

"Gah!" Ness jumped back, tripped over his own feet, and fell. "Paula…what are you talking about?"

"It. Is it too much?" she asked again, brush in hand, while pointing to the unfinished canvas behind her, although Ness wasn't sure if she was referring to it or her choice of wardrobe—a simple white T-Shirt with splotches of paint on it and a pair of green sweatpants.

"Um, no…it…looks fine," replied Ness, unsure of which of the two possibilities he was supposed to be complementing. "Very pretty."

Paula smiled and put her brush on a table, then whirled back to Ness. "Do you want to take a nap?"

Before Ness could even finish rising to his feet again she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to her bed. Immediately thereafter she lifted up his foot, almost toppling him over, and removed his shoe, which she placed neatly on the side of the bed; she left Ness to remove the other shoe and his jacket while she circled around the bed, delicately removed the covers, and slipped inside. She let out a contented sigh while Ness sat bolt upright. After a few seconds of silence Paula sat up again and gave Ness an inquiring look.

"Is there a problem?"

Ness pointed to the ceiling. "Um…you're supposed to turn off the lights if you want to go to sleep."

Paula stared at Ness blankly. "Oh," she said after a moment of silence. "Very well, I shall turn off the lights."

Two seconds later Ness was lying on his back, staring at the darkened roof of Paula's room, while Paula breathed softly next to him.

He had never noticed before, but Paula's bed smelled very nice…like it had been washed in something that smelled very girly and ladylike. Come to think of it, it smelled just like Paula did…gentle, sweet, pretty…very pretty…

Just as Ness was dozing off and Paula had snuggled up to him, draping her arm over his shoulder, the screen beside Paula's bed lit up like a Christmas tree. Tony was staring sternly into it from the other side.

"Ness! Are you there?"

The sleeping duo jumped so high they almost hit the ceiling. The motion and sound sensors installed next to the bed reacted by turning on the lights, hurting their eyes.

"Tony? What…how did you know I was here?"

Tony flashed a smile and waved Ness off. "Jeff told me I'd find you here. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything…"

"Actually, we were just about to—"

"…but I'm afraid it's rather urgent. Could you meet me at the laboratory in five minutes?"

Ness groaned. "How urgent are we talking here?"

"Very. The information I have to give you could determine whether or not you live to see the end of the week. Hurry up."

With that ominous note, the screen shut off, and Paula's room was left silent.

Ness reflected on Tony's message for a moment, and then slipped his feet out of the bed when he felt a tug at his sleeve.

"Must you really go?" Paula's expression was blank as ever, but there was a hint of pleading in his voice.

"You heard the man," answered Ness. "Tony doesn't really joke around, so it's probably important. It won't take long."

"But…what shall I do in the meantime?"

Ness shrugged. "I don't know. Finish your painting, or finish your nap, I guess."

The girl's grip on his sleeve loosened a bit, and ultimately relinquished control back to its owner. "All right. If you really are going to die by the end of the week, please tell me."

Ness smiled. "Yeah, sure…I'll do that."

As he left he could heard Paula saying, "…I'll be waiting."

The laboratory brought back some very unpleasant memories involving the late Commander Strong that Ness had to struggle to keep from bubbling up. He imagined that Jeff and Agent Poo, who was also there by the time Ness arrived, felt the same way. Still, he preferred not to mention anything for fear of derailing the impromptu meeting with the DREAMERS cadet, who was toying with one of his red bangs.

"Ah, Ness, how good of you to come," he said formally while Ness and the other two exchanged greetings. "Now that you're here, I can begin."

"Just what's this about, anyway?" Poo gave Tony one of his characteristic piercing stares from his spot against the wall, with arms crossed. The redhead, as he was wont to do by then, ignored it.

"Actually, what I have to say doesn't just involve you, but SANCTUARY and DREAMERS as a whole. It's supposed to be top secret, but information has trickled down to a friend of mine, and I thought I should tell you. Have you guys ever heard of Operation Giant Step?"

Poo's eyes narrowed. "I have. It was a joint operation between DREAMERS and us around five years ago. It's the only certifiably offensive operation SANCTUARY has ever carried out."

Tony nodded. "Right. It was before my time, so I don't know the specifics, but I was told that it failed miserably. In any case, it looks like Commander Labs wants to start it up again, this time by himself."

Jeff frowned thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. "I knew that dumb bastard wouldn't quit. I just knew it."

"What about what you told me? You said that I might not live to see the end of the week," said Ness.

"I was getting to that. My friend told me that what happened in Onett really threw the Commander off his rocker, and…he thinks that maybe the Commander's going to get rid of SANCTUARY before or during Operation Rainy Circle—that's what he's calling the plan now."

The four of us stood there, contemplating Tony's words for a while. It was Poo who eventually broke the silence.

"Why are you telling us this? If anything you'd keep it to yourself to keep us from stopping you."

Tony's smile faded and he shook his head. "Although I don't completely agree with your organization's ideals, I realized that maybe Commander Labs isn't the best role model to have. Besides, you guys are my friends and I'd hate to see any of my friends die." The cadet glanced at Jeff. "I care about you."

Poo started walking over to the elevator. "I have to inform Professor Andonuts about this."

"If you would…" Tony held up a hand to stop him. "I don't mind letting the professor know, but please exercise discretion. You can stop Commander Labs without having to start a war in the process."

Poo nodded without turning to face Tony. A few seconds later he was gone.

"That only leaves us, then," said Jeff after a while. "What do you think we should do, Ness?"

"I'm not too sure. We can't do very much anyway, right? I guess the best we can do is just wait and try not to get killed."

"Sounds good." Jeff was about to say something else when his red eyes twinkled. "Whoa…my Jeffrey sense is tingling."

"Giygas?"

"Oh yeah, no question…it's really far away though. I can barely feel it."

"This isn't good," said Tony. "If DREAMERS catches wind of this they might be tempted to start Operation Rainy Circle sooner than expected. I'd better go do some recon."

"We'll go tell the old man about this, too," said Jeff.

The three teenagers said their goodbyes and left the laboratory in opposite directions.

"I'm _ordering _you to participate in Operation Rainy Circle!" Maxwell Labs pounded his fists angrily on Andonuts' exquisite mahogany desk, rattling its contents. "You hear me?! I'm _ordering _you!"

"And I am telling _you _that your incapacity to separate the war against Giygas from your personal vendetta against me is going to get us both killed," replied Andonuts sternly. "This is like Giant Step all over again, and I guarantee that you will obtain the same results."

Maxwell Labs gritted his teeth. "I don't care! I'll sacrifice as many of your little brats as I have to as long as I get my way!"

"Do _not_," exclaimed the researcher suddenly, rising. "_Do not_…speak of them in that manner again. You have no right to even mention them, do you hear me?"

Labs scoffed. "Please, like you're some great big philanthropist! You killed one of your own assistants, and you almost killed me!"

Those words clearly hit a nerve. His grip around his cane tightened, turning his knuckles white. "_You_ were the one who opened the pyramid, not me," he said. "I told you not to do it, but you went ahead and opened it anyway…_you _were the one who unleashed this evil on the world, and _you _were the one who orphaned that poor boy's mother!"

"Bite me! You think just because you weren't there it wasn't your fault?! While I was wandering through the desert for days you were busy sitting in some hospital room and lying to her husband!"

"I told you once before that I was sorry for not finding you sooner. Furthermore, it was his wish not to tell Ness _or _Tracy about the ordeal. Are you still incapable of seeing that?"

"_I loved her! _You took her from me and _I loved her!!_"

Andonuts' grip relaxed slightly. "She was never yours to begin with."

Maxwell Labs grabbed the old researcher by the collar and raised his fist, his teeth clenched like a rabid animal. He was about to strike when a solid hand grabbed him from behind and flipped him face-down on the floor.

"Get off me, you damn dog!" the Commander struggled against Poo's grip in vain. "Get off!"

The agent looked to Professor Andonuts, who nodded slowly. Poo released Maxwell Labs unceremoniously and let the man rise to his feet. As soon as he did the military man walked to the door.

"It's too late," he said firmly. "I've already set up buoys around the perimeter that will attract Giygas…once I activate them you _will _cooperate, whether you like it or not."

"I will not let you kill my men like you tried to kill Paula," was the professor's reply.

"You don't have a choice. Say your goodbyes."

As Maxwell Labs stormed outside Poo turned to his boss. "I guess this means I don't have to tell you about what that DREAMERS kid said."

The professor nodded grimly. "Maxwell Labs possesses a weapon that can potentially wipe out Giygas for good…but it comes at a terrible price. I cannot allow him to execute Operation Rainy Circle."

The agent took his sunglasses out of the pocket in his sleeve and slipped them on. "Funny, that kid never told me they were planning to attack so soon."

"Maxwell does not usually inform his troops of these things," said Andonuts. "Only the elites will know about it; for the rest it will be an emergency operation of sorts."

"So? What do we do?"

Professor Andonuts lowered his head. "I wish I knew, Kai…do you know any good prayers?"

Suddenly an explosion could be heard in the distance.

"It's starting."

"Holy cow!" Jeff clutched his head, causing Ness to stop in his tracks.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, exactly," said the blonde. "But Giygas is heading this way, _fast_. I'm not too sure, but I think something's drawing it this way."

Ness' brow furrowed. "Rainy Circle?"

"Obviously. Tony wasn't kidding…at the rate we're going, we might not live to see the end of today!"

Ness lowered his head. "We're too late…"

Jeff recovered from his Giygas-induced trance quickly, and put a hand on Ness' shoulder. "We need to act, now. What do we do?"

"The only thing we can do," answered Ness. "Warn the others. You go get your uncle, and I'll get Paula. We'll meet up at the laboratory…I think we can hide there until this thing blows over."

Jeff nodded and ran off.

If anything, Ness was thanking his lucky stars that he had spent so much time running around SANCTUARY, even if it sometimes entailed fighting Giygas. He was able to pinpoint Paula's room very easily.

"Paula!"

She wasn't there.

Ness silently cursed to himself. Her room looked pristine; the bed had been made, the instruments stored away safely, and everything put in its proper place. The painting she had been working on was finished, and strangely enough Ness could tell that the paint had been dry for quite some time. He ambled around the room, as if waiting for Paula to pop out of nowhere with a random comment, as she usually did, but all he found were memories. He walked to Paula's nightstand and picked up the photograph—the only photograph Paula had from her own childhood. Even then, after all that time, Ness still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it…

Suddenly Ness felt his pupils dilate. Giygas had finally come.

The white halls were flooded with red light; the alarm had come on too late for it to do any good. Anyone walking around the base was immediately filled with an intense desire to run around frantically and panic. Ness had no way of knowing it, but at that exact same moment Jeff had reached the other side of the base, only to find his uncle there, sitting silently with Agent Poo. When Jeff scolded him for his foolishness Andonuts told him everything he needed to know about Rainy Circle, Giant Step, and what was going to happen to every single psychic in SANCTUARY, including Ness. That stopped Jeff's tirade somewhat, allowing the professor to formulate a makeshift contingency plan, which involved the immediate and complete evacuation of SANCTUARY. He sent Jeff to warn anyone who was on the battlefront, then used his computer terminal to open up the emergency warning system. Little did he know that it was too late.

Once more Ness found himself running frantically through the halls of SANCTUARY, this time towards the hangar. He could feel Giygas pulsing from that direction, just as he could feel that several people were there as well, probably fighting Giygas. Inwardly he hoped that Paula wasn't among them.

Two minutes later Ness arrived at the door to the hangar. He could see people running in and out of the place, from both DREAMERS and SANCTUARY. He couldn't see all the way into the hangar, but judging from the massive wounds on most people, the trails of blood they left behind as they were carried out of the battle, and the screams of agony and pain, he knew that he did not want to see it.

With a deep breath Ness steeled himself, adjusted his red cap and began making his way upstream, against a river of people, pain, and blood. Eventually he gained entrance into the hangar. What he saw almost made him retch.

Half of the hangar had been blown open by what could only be described as a walking mountain. It was almost as big as the hangar itself, and it trampled people like ants, who swarmed around its gargantuan legs firing everything they had at it. There were two of these Terra-Giygas loose around the hangar, which had already been set on fire after one of the creatures stomped on an oil reservoir. There were many more members of DREAMERS—who were busy lobbing grenades, shooting rockets, and trying to bring down Giygas—than there were members of his own SANCTUARY—although there were a few blasts of psychokinesis here and there to indicate their presence.

One of the creatures, apparently conscious of Ness' arrival, raised its titanic arm and lobbed a ball of mud the size of a school bus at the area where he was. Everyone else scrambled out of the way, but Ness was too shocked to do anything else other than stand there and stare blankly while the massive geo-projectile hurtled his way, like a tiny meteor.

"Ness, look out!"

Jeff tackled his friend to the floor and dragged him out of the way just in time to avoid the mud ball, which crashed into a Sky Runner immediately behind him, thus racking the already-crippled structure of the hangar with another explosion.

"Ness, we need to get out of here!" Jeff and he took cover behind a large chunk or debris. "My uncle ordered everyone out…I've gotten most of SANCTUARY out of here, but the DREAMERS guys won't leave…Labs ordered them to stay here and fight."

Now that he had regained his composure, Ness peeked around the corner of their hiding place and observed the bloody battlefield. "Have you seen Paula?"

"What?" Jeff placed his hands on Ness' shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't find her in her room, so I figured she might have come here…"

Jeff was about to answer when he caught sight of Tony, who was weaving in and out of the madness, heading towards him. The blonde was able to attract his attention, and the redhead soon joined them.

"I've got bad news. Some of the elites are missing…I think they're going to start Operation Rainy Circle any minute now."

"Damn it!" Jeff let go of Ness. "We need to leave, now! If they use that weapon we can kiss half the people on this base goodbye!"

Just then Ness felt something in the back of his head, something he hadn't felt for a very long time now. It was coming from where the Terra-Giygas were…or maybe from within the Terra-Giygas itself.

_…find me…_

Those two words were enough to fuel Ness with the strength he had been lacking all this time. Against Jeff's pleas he sprinted out of his hiding place and ran towards the Terra-Giygas at full speed. One of the creatures lobbed another ball of mud at him, but he used a wave of psychokinesis to catch the projectile, swing it behind him in an orbit, and hurl it back to its creator at twice the speed. The geo-projectile hit it in the 'chest' and sent it reeling. The other creature tried to retaliate, but another wave of psychokinesis began ripping it apart from the inside out, causing blister-like bubbles to burst from its insides, showering the hangar with mud and grime. Ness' psychic force was soon joined by other stray members of SANCTUARY, who began their own attacks as well.

It wasn't enough, though; after a few minutes of this Ness and what little backup he had were out of energy. A weak flash of psycholuminescence was all Ness could manage at the end before falling to his knees weakly.

As his vision blurred, Ness felt the familiar tingle in the back of his head, just under his scalp, one more time. He was too tired to actually see whether or not it was Paula, but as the Terra-Giygas began to reel once more, he knew it was her.

The two creatures crashed against each other violently, sending shockwaves through the ground. No one was able to comprehend just what was happening, but the fact that they were, for lack of a better term, dying, was enough. DREAMERS soldiers began to cheer as the Terra-Giygas burst into flames and slumped to the floor in one big, bundled mess.

Coincidentally, at that very moment, the familiar feeling disappeared from Ness' head. He had been left alone again.

"Ness!"

It was Tony. He and Jeff rushed to his side and helped him to his feet.

"Man, we really need to get to my uncle's office," commented Jeff sternly. "We might have postponed Rainy Circle for a while, but we're still in danger."

Tony shifted Ness' weight onto Jeff's shoulder and took a step back. "I can't be seen with you," he mused. "I'd better go back and blend in. Talk to you later?"

Jeff nodded, and soon the DREAMERS cadet disappeared from his side in a flash of green and red. That left the blonde with only one more concern.

"Ness…you're burning up! You overexerted yourself way too much back there."

"I had to…" answered Ness with a wry chuckle. "I had to find Paula…"

"Paula? You don't mean the dream girl, do you?"

Another chuckle. "It's been a while since you called her that?"

Jeff frowned and shook his head. "You really _are _messed up. I thought you had finally got over that whole deal with that dream."

The chuckles stopped. A pang of fear hit the pit of Ness' stomach. "What…are you talking about?"

"That does it, I'm getting you to the infirmary," said Jeff commandingly. "You're delirious."

"Jeff…what are you talking about? You talked to her just yesterday…I was with her before…"

The blonde shook his head again. Ness' state was starting to hurt him inside. "You were with me yesterday, remember? We went to the Silent Garden…don't you remember?"

"No…" Ness struggled against gravity to try and stand up. "No, it can't be…I was with her…" with a jolt he sprang to his feet and grabbed Jeff by the collar. "I was with her! Where is she?!"

Jeff jumped back, startled and slightly afraid for his own safety. The insanity in his best friend's eyes slowly gave way to pain, and Ness fell back to his knees. Within seconds two members of SANCTUARY had grabbed him by the extremities and carted him off, oblivious to his feeble protests.

"…I see. Will he be alright?"

Two hours had passed since then. Jeff, Poo, and Professor Andonuts were occupying the seats in the SANCTUARY commander's office.

"Physically, the doctors say he's okay," said Jeff with a hint of exhaustion in his voice. "But mentally he's completely lost it. He keeps hallucinating with this one girl he kept seeing in his dreams before coming here…I think he kept calling her Paula."

The professor nodded his head sagely. "Paula was much like Ness. I took her in ten years ago, but she perished during Operation Giant Step."

Two stray strands of hair fell over Jeff's red eyes, which were half-closed. When Jeff spoke once more he had removed his glasses.

"He kept insisting that we _knew _her…that she was living here all this time. Her room was supposedly somewhere in F-Block, near the west side."

Poo sighed. "There aren't any rooms in F-Block. The only thing of importance there is this old storage room, but it hasn't been used in years."

Professor Andonuts rose from his chair and paced dejectedly to his window. The translucent current of crystalline water did little to soothe him. "I assume Ness is in the infirmary?"

Once more Jeff shook his head. "He was turning irrational and violent, so they had to detain him. He's in one of the cells in the detention block." There was genuine pain in his words when he said that last sentence.

"How unfortunate," whispered Andonuts. "This could not have happened at a worse time. However, we can be certain that he will be safe while detained, so we must leave him be and turn our attention to other matters. Namely, the fact that we are now fighting one enemy and sleeping with the other…"

On the other side of the base sat Ness, huddled up against the corner of a small, white, cubical cell. He knew that there were two guards stationed just outside, but the big steel door that separated him from freedom had only a small window that nearly blocked all external sunlight. Only a small halogen lamp hanging from the ceiling kept him from being bathed in darkness.

He had taken off his cap, jacket, and shoes; he didn't feel like wearing them anyway. He didn't feel like doing _anything_, actually. The only thing he could muster up the courage to do was cradle a small, wrinkled photograph in his hands. It was a picture of a little girl with blonde hair, a girl that he knew to exist until a short while ago, when she was lost to what appeared to be his own insanity.

Ness' eyes narrowed. His grip on the photograph tightened.

"Paula…"


	11. 11th Revolution: Humanity

**_E. Revolution_**

****

**_-11th Revolution-_**

****

**_::Humanity::_**

****

"How is he?"

"His condition…has not improved in the slightest. He insists on the fact that he knows her, but I am afraid his mind is merely playing tricks on him."

"He kept insisting on a picture…did he show it to you, Professor?"

"According to the guards who were on duty at the time, he shows that picture to anybody who cares to listen. Regrettably it is but a scrap of paper that he scrounged up from the floor. His delusions have reached a very high level indeed."

"We can't worry about that now, though. Why did you want to come back here anyway, uncle?"

"I wished to get some documents from my private library…specifically these books."

"What are they?"

"The Science Arks. The results of Professor Andonuts' research, condensed into six volumes."

"I plan to entrust them, along with SANCTUARY's collection of Scaraban artifacts and the command of SANCTUARY itself, to you, Jeff."

"…me? Are you serious?"

"I am always serious, my boy."

"But…why?"

"Because…"

"We don't have time for this, Professor. We'd better get to the shelter."

"…because the end is near."

Frank Fly struggled internally to adopt a stoic-looking, nonchalant pose that would completely contradict the feelings of fear and turmoil in his head and communicate a sense of ease and understanding to everyone around him. It wasn't working—not that anyone would have noticed anyway.

After the last major attack only two areas of SANCTUARY had been left unscathed; both of them were hangars, and they had been cleared out quickly enough. DREAMERS had taken hold of the first and larger hangar, and put it to use as a base of operations. SANCTUARY, on the other hand, employed the building as a shelter, putting the survival of its members above the success of its mission. At the moment most everyone was busy eking out a personal space amidst the sea of people, rations, blankets, and first-aid kits—due to the sheer number of people, half of which were either injured, dying, or dead, there was precious little space to do anything other than sit and wait. Some decided to add prayer to that short list, while others were too busy forsaking whatever deity they worshipped and damning everyone and everything to think of anything else. Some women broke into tears. Some men were crying as well, but they were trying to hide it. Absolutely everyone wanted to go home and never have to think of this dreadful place again.

Everyone except for Frank Fly, that is. His only concern at that time was when Giygas would strike again—which it would—and whether or not he'd be able to pull through again.

After what seemed like a lifetime of trying to look cool in front of absolutely no one, Frank Fly noticed a familiar pair of faces walk by his side. He recognized them as the two scientists who were with him in Onett.

"Hey, you guys! Over here!"

Orange switched the first aid kit he was holding onto one arm. "Hmm? Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"Whatta I look like I want anything?" Frank's demeanor, was, as always, completely apathetic on the outside. "I just noticed you guys walking around, and…well, you know, I though you could use some company."

"Company." Orange shifted his parcel to his other arm. "You think that, after all that's happened, what we really need right now is company."

Now that he thought about it, it _was_ pretty dumb. Frank shrugged. "You know, whatever. 'S getting boring in here an' I thought, you know…maybe you guys need some help, sum'in like that."

Orange scoffed and shoved his parcel into Frank's arms. "Why Frank, how good of you to say so," he said derisively. "As a matter of fact, we could use another able body to lug around some of the heavier packages by the infirmary."

A polished, black eyebrow rose over the pink rim of Frank's sunglasses. "Do I look like the kind of person that lugs stuff around?"

"Yes."

The gangster was about to protest when Orange shot him an angry look. Within seconds he was on his way to the infirmary.

Apple watched him go. "I don't think it's a good idea to trust him with our work," he commented, more to himself than to Orange. "What if he drops something?"

"He has to do _something_ around here," replied Orange. "Otherwise he's dead weight. Besides, we've been playing errand boy all day now, we could use some rest."

Apple could find no fault in Orange's logic, so instead of trying to argue ethics he decided to focus his attention on the redhead in the green uniform who was rapidly approaching from the entrance to the hangar.

"Hi, you two," said Tony, chipper as always. "It's good to see you."

Apple saw that Orange was about to make a rude remark and took over before he could say something offensive. "Tony, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with the other DREAMERS?"

Tony flashed one of his characteristic half-smiles and flicked a red bang out of his eyes. "Not anymore. After everything that happened I defected."

The two researchers exchanged glances. They weren't entirely surprised, but…

"I take it you finally saw Maxwell Labs for the lunatic that he is," said Orange.

Tony shook his head. "He may be that way now, but…" The cadet's eyes began to wander, searching for old memories. "Commander Labs was—is—a brilliant man. I initially joined DREAMERS just so I could feel like I was worth something to the world…the Commander made me feel that way ever since I signed up. Every day I was with him before coming to SANCTUARY was like walking with a god…to me, he was invincible. But all that's changed now…like he's been possessed by some sort of monster. Maybe he's always been a monster, and I've been too blinded by his brilliance to see it."

Orange put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "All people are monsters," he said. "They just stay caged most of the time."

With those words, Orange turned and walked away, muttering something about keeping an eye on Frank.

Tony cocked his head to the side. "That was…really deep."

Apple nodded. "Yeah…not like him at all."

People…there were people nearby…above, perhaps, on the same wing of the base, but on a different level. Most of them were talking amongst themselves…they were too far away to hear what about, though.

Ness' cell was the only one that was occupied in the whole base. It made very little sense to him that they would lock him up here, by himself, and keep him from the outside world, especially given all that was happening. He wasn't going to hurt anybody, either…not unless they deserved it.

"Hey, you two. Yeah, the two of you outside."

The two guards didn't react. They had been ordered not to, after all. Ness could have screamed for hours and the guards would not have so much as flinched.

"You're not going to let me out of here, are you?"

_What a dumb question,_ he thought to himself, almost simultaneously. _If I were standing out there I wouldn't let me out either._

"No, huh? What if I choose to let myself out?"

No sooner had he finished than he felt a tremendous pressure in his head, right behind his eyes. The pressure quickly changed to a sharp, blinding pain that forced Ness to the floor. He probably screamed, but the pain made it difficult to tell.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I won't break out, I promise!"

Immediately the pain subsided. Since the two guards had no way of physically interacting with him from their posts, they had resorted to psychic aggression as a means of keeping Ness in check. They weren't part of SANCTUARY for nothing.

Ness dug into his pockets and produced the photograph of Paula he had with him. He had examined the photograph a thousand times over now, and could probably trace every single contour of Paula's face with his eyes if he so chose. He had tried showing it to his friends, but none of them had been able to believe him.

_But how can they think this is a piece of ordinary paper? I can see it, I can feel it…why doesn't anyone believe me? Why can't they remember Paula?_

Ness was about to speak up again when he heard two dull, heavy thuds outside his cell. After that came the sound of two tumbling bodies. After that the door to his cell burst open and two men in green uniforms hit him over the head with the butts of their shotguns. After that, darkness.

"We've got trouble."

Agent Poo approached Apple and Orange with a stern look on his face. His glasses were off.

"What is it?" Apple put down the console he was working with. "Is it…Giygas?"

The agent barely nodded, but it was more than enough to confirm Apple's concerns. "We detected it a few minutes ago. It's still far away, but it's coming. The Professor sent me to fetch you two, said something about an emergency defense system."

Orange adjusted his specs and scoffed. "Figures. It's the only defense we have left once the base is compromised. If the Prof's starting it up then he must be really desperate."

Poo's brow creased. This was the first time the Professor had set up something within the base and not told him about it.

"I guess it can't be helped," chirped Apple. "Agent Poo, could you please evacuate everyone from the base? Once the system starts up it means the base is done for."

The two scientists dropped whatever they were doing and ran off to a part of the base only they knew existed. In the meantime Poo looked around and spotted a familiar figure clad in pink.

"Hey, you," Poo grabbed Frank Fly by the collar and plunked him down in front of him. "I need some help."

"Say what?"

"I need you to help me evacuate all these people."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "You kiddin'? I don't even work for you people!"

"You do now. I've just hired you as a cadet. Now help me."

"A _cadet?!_ That's it?! What, you can't make me a general or something?"

"Just shut up and help me!"

"All right, all right…"

Tony was nearby, and through a little eavesdropping heard the entire conversation. Immediately his thoughts turned to doing something in another part of the base, and he ran off.

A slap to the face brought Ness out of the darkness and back to the world of the living. His vision was still blurry, but he could feel his hands and feet bound by restraints, and there was something heavy bearing down on his head. It was terribly cold…maybe someone had taken his shirt off.

"Wake up. Wake _up_, damn it!"

That voice was…Maxwell Labs.

Ness' vision finally settled, and he saw the figure of the DREAMERS commander standing above him. It finally dawned on Ness that he was lying down, strapped to a table of some sort.

"Where am I?"

"You are not at liberty to be asking questions," replied Labs. "All you have to do is lie there." The commander disappeared from Ness' view, apparently to do some sort of chore somewhere else.

Ness moved his head around. He was in one of the hangars, but it was difficult to tell which, exactly. DREAMERS soldiers were swarming around him, testing electrodes attached to his chest, checking measurements, and preparing weapons. To his left, on a similar table, Ness spotted a young woman in a SANCTUARY uniform. Her pale countenance was indicative of the fact that she was dead.

"This is…Operation Rainy Circle, isn't it?"

Maxwell Labs reappeared above Ness. "Very perceptive of you. Last time we were able to capture one of your grunts, but she was too weak to be of any use. But you," Maxwell Labs grabbed Ness' face and squeezed it painfully, causing the boy to grunt. "You, I have high hopes for. You have the kind of power that can wipe them out _permanently_."

Ness' eyes narrowed. "You can't make me do anything to help you."

Maxwell Labs chortled. "Oh, we'll see about that. All I need is a tiny surge of psychic energy…once that happens, the system will take hold of you and do the rest on its own. Of course, it'll kill you in the process, but that's a small price to pay." The commander paused for a second. "Funny, that's the same thing I said to that girl when I last used this machine."

That girl…was he talking about Paula?

"But that's in the past." Maxwell Labs disappeared from Ness' view once more. "After today, I'll have destroyed it, every last bit. There won't be anything left."

"Are you talking about Giygas or SANCTUARY?"

Maxwell Labs was unable to answer that question. Instead he walked away and ordered one of his subordinates to begin Operation Rainy Circle as soon as possible.

There was a room, somewhere around the place where the old laboratory used to be, that had a very well-hidden secret door, its frame a delicate, barely visible outline etched into the white wall. The recent destruction wrought on the base by Giygas had made sure that the mechanisms responsible for keeping the wall clean, and by extension, making sure the door stayed hidden, had fallen into disrepair; thus the door became somewhat more visible than it would have been under other circumstances, although it was still impossible to discern from anything else in the base by the naked eye.

Apple and Orange knew what to do: they waved their key cards in front of a scanner built into the wall, also concealed behind the white panels. Two panels slid away to reveal a pair of secondary scanners on each side of the door, spaced far enough apart so that the two could not be accessed simultaneously by the same person. The two researchers placed their palms on the scanners and lowered their heads so that their retinas could be scanned. Once these two checkpoints were taken care of a third, larger panel appeared on the door itself, with the words 'VOICEPRINT AUTHORIZATION' written on them in big, bold letters.

"Prodeo Obveat Ordinatio," said Orange loudly, and clearly. After Apple said the same thing, in the same tone, the door finally flashed a final message, 'WELCOME TO MAGNET HILL', and then slid away, revealing a narrow staircase leading up. Without so much as a snide comment Orange started climbing it; Apple followed without complaining.

The room they ended up in was at the highest point of SANCTUARY. It was a large command center, large enough to house several people, although most of the consoles were concentrated in the front, next to a large window that overlooked the entire complex and the immediate area beyond it. The only exception was a central podium in the center of the room, that was raised a step. Standing on that podium were a haggard old man and his wide-eyed, blonde nephew.

"We're here, Professor," said Orange while taking up a seat at a console up front. "We came as soon as possible."

"Good," replied the professor. "I am glad you could make it. I did not want to resort to such extreme measures, but the situation calls for it."

Jeff shifted his weight onto one foot uncomfortably. "I still don't get it," he said. "What is this room for? Why is it such a secret?"

Apple also took up his place at a console and booted it up. "This is SANCTUARY's final line of defense against a frontal attack by Giygas. However, the Professor foresaw that the use of such an extreme measure would imply the depletion of our psychic forces."

"Therefore," continued Orange, "he designed this system keeping more 'traditional' methods of defense in mind."

"Traditional is a relative word," replied Andonuts. "Although the weaponry here was acquired—discreetly, I might add—from the Eagleland military, I have made some 'improvements', shall we say, that make this system much more advanced than any other in the world."

Jeff frowned. "Why did you keep this a secret? Why not just use this system in the first place?"

"Because, my dear boy, I don't want to _kill_ Giygas; I want to eliminate its chaotic essence from the Earth. Conventional weaponry, no matter how advanced, cannot do that."

Jeff was about to reply when he felt the cells in his body tugging him towards something in the distance. He adjusted his glasses.

"It's here."

Chaos, it seems, must always manifest in a somewhat orderly fashion if it wishes to be perceived. The fact alone that it seems to have a will of its own indicates that there is at least some order to it. Thus it was not surprising that the latest manifestation of Giygas looked, despite its form, to be coherent within itself.

It had taken bits of pieces of everything to assemble its 'body': the head was made out of chunks of metal and concrete, in order to resemble something like the serpentine head of a dragon; the torso looked organic, like it had taken a normal animal and mutated it, then attached a long tail made of mud and soil to the end. The limbs were made of rock as well, although pieces of flesh had been integrated into it. Long, silver ribbons of energy, perhaps light, sprouted from the back of the beast and kept it airborne. What was peculiar about it was that none of the pieces seemed to be attached to each other; each was, apparently, its own independent entity, constantly shifting around as to give the whole the illusion of a fluid coherence. Even the composition of the pieces themselves changed constantly, with the head being of concrete one moment and of flesh the next.

Professor Andonuts did not give the Devourer the option of a first attack. "Destroy it," he commanded.

"What if DREAMERS attacks? What about Rainy Circle?"

"There is no time! We must destroy it now!"

Apple and Orange did as they were told, and after typing a few commands into their consoles the room began to rumble. Missiles poured out of a silo just above them and streamed towards the Devourer like locusts. The jets of stream they left in their wake weaved a fluffy tapestry in the sky, while the ammunition itself screamed towards its target. The Devourer saw it coming and emitted an invisible pulse, stopping the missiles in its tracks. The warheads went dead and fell to the ground.

"Oh no, it's not over yet!" Orange typed in another command. "Take this!"

The 'dead' warheads sprang to life again and broke in half, revealing the shiny, spherical pods in their interior. These spheres immediately flew up to the Devourer once more; before it had a chance to react the pods surrounded it and created a contained electromagnetic field, trapping the Devourer and zapping it. The creature writhed and screamed in pain.

Another barrage of missiles, conventional this time, was launched. However, before they could reach their target the Devourer changed its structural integrity, covering itself with its organic parts so as to shield itself from the electromagnetic wave. It used its massive tail to destroy the pods surrounding it, then immediately changed its composition, petrifying itself so it could withstand the second barrage of missiles. After that it resumed its original configuration and started moving towards the base.

"It's cleared the first line," reported Apple. "Our ballistic array is unusable now…the blast would affect us too."

"Initiate the second defensive wave," ordered Andonuts. "Try to lure it back out to missile range."

Jeff looked on in awe. Something inside the Giygas was beginning to change.

"Something's hurting it, but it's not us," he mused. "I think they're starting Operation Rainy Circle…"

Maxwell Labs approached the table where Ness lay with a syringe in his hand. The mere sight of it made Ness nauseous.

"What are you going to do to me?"

The DREAMERS commander smiled. "I'm just going to give you a little something to relax. It'll activate the psychic centers of your brain, and once I activate the machine they won't be able to stop themselves."

"That doesn't sound relaxing."

"Well, it relaxes me quite a bit, in any case," said Labs.

Ness mustered up the most defiant look he could and sneered at his captor. "You can't kill me…if anything happens to me SANCTUARY will get you faster than you can blink."

"Ha! I'd like to see them try," retorted Labs. "They'll be too busy _dying_ to do anything."

Ness' once-defiant look vanished, replaced by confusion and fear. "You…you're going to kill them all…all those people are gonna die…"

"It would surprise you to know how very little I care. But that's neither here nor there…let's get started, shall we?"

Without much ceremony he jabbed the needle into Ness' arm and emptied its contents into his bloodstream.

The liquid felt very cold, like ice, and coursed through Ness' veins at an unbelievable speed. Within seconds the drug made its way to Ness' head, and soon the cold sensation concentrated in his head, behind his eyes. The cold quickly turned to pain, then to agony, then to darkness as Ness lost control over his senses and lost the ability to see. He could feel the chemical probing his brain, switching on some of his own neurons against his will and forcing them into action. He tried to resist, but there was nothing to fight with; he was fighting a losing battle against his own brain, who had surrendered control of itself to Maxwell Labs' artificial drug. There was nothing nepenthean about it.

Maxwell Labs motioned to one of his subordinates, who activated the machine Ness was strapped to. The system sprung to life, drawing psychic energy from Ness' unconscious body and sapping it of life simultaneously. The machine was connected to a large converter, a huge, metallic spire with a series of consoles at the bottom, all of which recorded, transformed, and filtered the raw energy that was being fed to it, and then broadcast it through a transmitter at the top of the cone. The entire thing hardly made any noise, and the only real moving 'part' was Ness' body, writhing as several different sources shocked it with jolts of electricity. Ironically, one of these devices was a defibrillator designed to stop him from dying before he had been drained prematurely. The DREAMERS elites swarmed around the device, checking readings and making sure the system was working properly. In the meantime Maxwell Labs stood a few paces away and watched, entranced by the spectacle and consumed by a childish glee that would have been marvelous had it not been so sickening.

For a moment Maxwell Labs fancied himself a savior, a prophet of an unknown god.

"Professor Andonuts, I've been looking for—agh!"

Kai Poo had barely stepped into Magnet Hill when he was racked by a violent spasm that forced him to the floor. Jeff immediately rushed to his side and took the agent in his arms; to his horror he was coughing up blood, and whatever he couldn't cough up was quickly making its way out of his body through his eyes, nose, and ears.

"What's happening to him? It's like he's dying…"

Andonuts, after examining Poo's condition, went back to his console and focused his attention on the battle taking place outside. "Mr. Apple, show me the progress on the evacuation of the base."

"Roger." A few seconds later several screens, showing different parts of the evacuation route, came into view, superimposed on the glass. Every single shot showed SANCTUARY agents falling to the ground, wriggling in pain and letting out screams of pure agony. Frank Fly, the one coordinating the evacuation and the only person unaffected by these mysterious symptoms, rushed to the person nearest him and knelt down. Ignoring his own vanity and personal grooming, he slipped off his pink jacket and used it to wipe off as much blood as he could while futilely trying to revive the injured young woman.

Professor Andonuts shook his head sadly. "What about Giygas?"

Orange typed a command into his console, and the gruesome images of the SANCTUARY agents disappeared, leaving only the normal view of the Devourer. Statistics and readouts began to pour onto the glass, displaying various bits of information. Red circles appeared on various spots of the Devourer's body.

"I don't believe this," said Orange. "It's falling apart…like something's tearing it apart from the inside…"

Jeff took off his glasses and wiped his brow. He felt no pain, but the sensation was almost unbearable. He too felt like something was clawing away at him from the inside; it almost made him want to scream like the creature just outside the window.

"As I feared," replied Andonuts. "Operation Rainy Circle has begun. We must stop this at once!"

Jeff took his sweater off and rolled it up to make a headrest for Poo, who had stopped convulsing but was still bleeding. "I'll do it," he said. "Just tell me what to do."

Professor Andonuts looked upon his nephew and felt for the first time that perhaps the young man would not have to grow up to become like his uncle.

"Bring me Maxwell Labs," he said.

Maxwell Labs was about to erupt into another fit of laughter when the walls of the hangar were rocked by a loud explosion that obliterated one of the walls facing the outside. Most of the elites were caught by the debris, and anyone who wasn't was forced to retreat just so they wouldn't be trampled by the gargantuan Sky Runner that broke in and occupied half the hangar.

The front ramp came down quickly, revealing the lone form of Tony, the sole occupant of the mammoth transport. Before anyone could react he dashed forward, lobbing a grenade at the tall spire that powered Labs' terrible machine, and then took cover by diving to the floor. The machine was completely destroyed almost instantly by the explosive. Immediately thereafter Ness' body stopped convulsing and he began to regain control of his body.

"No…" Labs dropped to his knees. "No! No no _no__ You traitor! __You fucking traitor!! I'm going to kill you!!_"

Tony got up, brushed himself off, and shot Maxwell Labs a disappointed look. "To think I used to look up to you," he said softly before rushing to Ness' side and disconnecting him from the machine.

A couple of DREAMERS elites tried to stop Tony by rushing into him; he, in turn, bit down on his thumb, and then took out his gun. The hemoglobin-activated firearm made short work of the elites and cleared the way.

"Ness! Ness, can you hear me? It's me, Tony! Ness!"

The youth's eyes opened slowly. His head swiveled around drunkenly and finally fixated on the dull blur that was Tony's face. He tried to speak, but the most he could manage was a faint whisper, inaudible over the noise.

Tony tried to speak again when Maxwell Labs tackled him from behind, sending Ness crashing to the floor and separating the cadet from his gun.

"You fucking bastard!" Labs began to pummel the cadet mercilessly, like someone ready and willing to kill. "You ruined everything! I'm going to kill you!"

Tony made a feeble attempt at defending himself, but his commander and mentor was much too strong. Eventually he was completely overpowered, and he fell to the ground. The DREAMERS commander reached for a jagged piece of debris and held it over his head, ready to impale Tony when he felt a cold object jab into his back gently.

"One more move and I shoot you," said Jeff. "I know how these things work, and I took care to dowse it with a little blood."

Labs came to his senses somewhat and dropped his makeshift weapon, then put his hands up. In the meantime Tony scampered back a few paces and wiped his mouth.

"My hero," he joked.

"Save it for later," retorted Jeff. "For now, just get some of the wires from that table over there and tie his hands."

Tony did as he was told, and after taking care of Labs he went over to Ness. After acknowledging that he was still alive, the former cadet hoisted him up over one shoulder.

"Take that Sky Runner and pick up the SANCTUARY guys outside," commanded Jeff authoritatively. "After that, take them far away from the base, got it?"

Tony did a mock salute and headed for the Sky Runner. "Don't die," he said before boarding the craft and closing the entry ramp. Soon afterwards the Sky Runner took off.

Jeff watched the craft fly away, and then fixed his attention on his new prisoner. "Come on, you, my uncle has some unfinished business to take care of."

A grunt from behind him told Professor Andonuts that Poo was recovering from the near fatal seizure he had suffered some minutes before.

"How are you feeling?" He asked with genuine concern in his voice, but without turning to look at him.

"I've…been better," replied Poo weakly. He leaned on the _Jun Zhu Tan_ and used it as a crutch to get back on his feet. "What…happened?"

"Minutiae. It is not important right now," said Andonuts. "We have, you see, bigger problems to worry about."

After shaking his head Poo was able to focus on the window in the front of his room. The sight of the Devourer, now closer than ever, almost made him faint again.

The monster had begun attacking the base now that it was closer. The close-range weaponry was having little to no effect, and any artillery sent its way was shattered by invisible pulses of energy. The tendrils of light that shot out of the Devourer's back whipped forward viciously, scarring the ground below it and the parts of the base that it managed to come in contact with. Whatever was harming it before was gone now, and the only real thing it had managed in the end was to make it mad.

"I'm back," announced Jeff as he ran in with Maxwell Labs in tow. "He had Ness strapped to this machine, but that's taken care of."

The Devourer scored a direct hit near Magnet Hill, sending a violent vibration through the floor and walls. Apple and Orange typed furiously, their fingers veritable blurs as they entered any number of commands into the defense system, but it was for naught. The Devourer was simply too close.

Two machine gun turrets sprouted out of the outside wall and began firing rounds of electromagnetically-enhanced bullets at the monster, which simply changed its composition to solid rock and absorbed the enemy fire harmlessly. More missiles were fired, and the explosions managed to shatter the window, showering everyone inside with shards; still the creature was unaffected.

"It's no use," muttered Apple. "He can see everything we throw at it from a mile away…"

Professor Andonuts frowned. He glanced at Poo, then Apple and Orange, then at Maxwell Labs, and finally at Jeff. His gaze lingered on the blonde for a particularly long time.

"Mr. Apple, Mr. Orange," he commanded. "Please cease any further countermeasures."

The two researchers swiveled around in their chairs. They looked at each other, and then at their superior officer.

The researcher did not give them time to try and start an argument. "Kai, please escort everyone to the last hangar. There should still be some form of transportation there that will allow you to escape the base."

The agent sensed what Andonuts planned to do and shot him a defiant look. "You can't be serious," he complained. "If you stay here by yourself then you'll get killed for sure."

"I know," replied Andonuts. "That is why I plan to take that monster with me."

Another violent seism shook the base. Jeff dropped the gun he was holding and ran up to his uncle.

"Please don't do this," he pleaded. "I…there's still so much we have to talk about…"

The old man took his nephew and embraced him warmly. The blonde began to cry as he clung to the only real family he had left.

"I have already told you everything that needs to be said," he whispered. "Just know that I love you, and I am very proud of the person you have become."

Jeff nodded, sobbing slightly, and hugged his uncle tighter.

Kai Poo slipped on his sunglasses, presumably to hide his tears, and bowed respectfully to his mentor. "I am…very grateful for everything that you have done for me," he said. "I will make sure your sacrifice does not go in vain. I only wish to become half the man you are."

Andonuts shook his head with a sigh. "Kai, please dispense with the formalities, they make you sound stuck up," he chuckled. "Do not worry for me…I am merely making sure that you all have a future to enjoy."

Kai Poo nodded, and then looked away; he did not want anyone to see his tears of grief. "Good bye, Professor."

Apple and Orange were the last to say goodbye. They praised the old researcher for everything he had accomplished, shook his hand, and promised to keep on fighting until their last breath. They wanted to say more, but another explosion, closer that the previous ones, reminded them of the urgency of their departure. With one final, teary goodbye they turned to leave, followed by Jeff and Poo.

Maxwell Labs turned to leave as well, when he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder and hold him back.

"Not you," said Andonuts sternly. "You're staying here with me."

Labs struggled against the old man's grasp, but in his present condition he was practically trapped. "You can't be serious."

"My dear boy, I am always serious."

Maxwell Labs ripped himself away and glared incredulously at Andonuts. "I'm not going to die here in the name of your little crusade. If you want to die, then die alone!"

Professor Andonuts produced two small key rings from his pocket. "These two keys operate the self-destruct mechanism," he explained. "But they fit on opposite ends of the room. I need a second person to activate the mechanism with me."

Maxwell Labs shook his head. "You're twisted."

"I learned that from you."

Once more the commander of what was left of DREAMERS broke into hysteria. "You—you can't! It's insane, you think you can make me do this? Huh? What do I look like, some kinda idiot? There's no way you can make me…"

He was quickly silence by a solid slap to the face. Professor Andonuts glared at his former pupil reprehensively.

"What do you think she would say if she saw you now?"

Maxwell Labs stared blankly at his teacher for a long time. Something within him clicked.

Eventually he whirled around and raised his hands, which were still bound.

"I can't do this if you don't untie me," he protested. Once he was untied, he snatched one of the keys from Andonuts' hand, stormed over to one side of the room and shoved his key into the console there.

The professor nodded solemnly and did the same on the other side of the room. Another explosion was felt, and the Devourer's tendrils snaked into the room, making short work of the consoles in the front.

A tendril lashed at Andonuts' arm, but he maintained his poise. "On my mark!"

Labs nodded and leaned back to avoid another tendril.

"1…2…"

The last thought that went through Maxwell Labs' head was that of a woman that he loved a long time ago. The last thought that went through Professor Andonuts' head was that of hope, and the future he had imagined for his nephew. The last thing either of them heard was the sound of a girl crying softly.

The entire SANCTUARY base was consumed in one terrifying explosion. The Devourer, no matter how powerful, simply could not withstand an attack of that magnitude, and began to shriek in pain as parts of it dropped off and melted. The flames consumed it, dissolved it within them mercilessly, along with everything else that was nearby. If the Devourer felt fear, it was short-lived.

The small Sky Runner that was flying overhead shook violently from the shockwave produced by the blast. The Runner's passengers could only look sadly as the blast consumed their former home, their former life.

Jeff pounded on the glass. "No…"

Ness came to at around that time. Tony had dressed him up with his old clothes, which he had found in the remnants of his cell earlier that day, and brought him up to speed with regards to what had happened to him. The explosion, which seemed very far away but sounded very close, told him the rest. He did not need to be told that Professor Andonuts had staged all of it.

They had landed in a clearing a few kilometers away from the base. Tony had helped set up a temporary infirmary along with Frank, and they were helping with the treatment of the wounded, but the damage was too severe. Several members of SANCTUARY had died during Operation Rainy Circle at the mercy of Maxwell Labs' machine, and those that hadn't suffered extensive injuries, both physical and psychological.

Eventually the Sky Runner holding Jeff, Poo, Apple, and Orange touched down next to them, and Ness got the chance to receive the news of Andonuts' death personally. He too had things to share, and related his experiences as an unwilling weapon. Everyone was too sad to bring up the fact that earlier that day Ness was locked in a prison cell.

"So that's it, then…SANCTUARY's gone," remarked Jeff dejectedly. It was clear that he spoke of both the base and the institution.

"What do we do now?" Poo crossed his arms and glanced at the _Jun Zhu Tan_. "I'd like to say that we'll keep on fighting…but I don't know if there's anything left to fight for."

"Not like we'd make much of a difference anyway," spat Jeff. He spread his arms to indicate the remnants of SANCTUARY's work force. "Look at us. Right now we wouldn't be able to kill a fly."

Ness was about to agree with Jeff's pessimism when a stray draft knocked his cap off his head. Wordlessly he watched as the cap rolled onto the ground and a few steps behind him. It was when he went to pick it up that he noticed something in the distance, floating in the sky.

"Paula…"

Jeff and Poo heard Ness' voice and glanced over at him. It didn't take long for them to follow Ness' gaze and spot what he was looking at. She was far away, floating in the sky like an angel, her pink dress and long hair billowing in the wind. It was hard to make out her shape in the distance, but she was definitely there, and she was definitely Paula.

"No way…" Jeff slipped off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and placed the lenses back on. "Is that…?"

"Paula," said Poo incredulously, as if he himself didn't believe it. "Suddenly I feel like I just remembered something important…"

"So Ness was right all along…he wasn't insane…"

Then, as quickly as she had appeared, she vanished. No smoke, no flashes of light, nothing…she was there one second, and gone the next.

Ness turned to face his companions. They stared back at him, their faces full of grief and sorrow, waiting for something or someone to tell them what to do. They were without a leader, and they were afraid.

The silence was broken when Ness placed his red cap back on his head, straitened up, and regained his composure.

"We need to go back to Fourside."

Jeff shook his head. "Why? We can't do anything."

"That's not true." Ness' hands balled into fists. "Besides, Paula's waiting for us. She still needs our help, and I refuse to stand here and do nothing while she's suffering."

Poo spoke up, with his thick oriental accent. "What makes you so sure she's in Fourside? For all we know she's not even on the planet anymore."

Ness fixed his gaze on the horizon. "Can't you hear her calling us? She's in Fourside, I'm sure of it."

The agent had to admit that he did not hear anyone calling him. However, in light of recent events he was willing to give Ness the benefit of the doubt.

"But what about all these people?"

Ness looked at his blonde friend. "Most of them are in pretty bad shape. Maybe they just want to go home."

The blonde nodded in agreement. "Do you want to talk to them or should I?"

Ness waved his friend off. "I'm the reason they're in this mess. I'll do it"

That said, Ness turned to face the remaining members of SANCTUARY and yelled for their attention. When the troupe of injured, demoralized troops stared at him, he felt the blood rush up to his head—he had never spoken in front of so many people before.

"Um…I have an announcement," he began, slowly and softly at first, but with more confidence each passing second. "We're going back to Fourside…we're going to finish this war once and for all. I know most of you are tired, so I don't want to force you to go anywhere you don't want to…but we need all the help we can get. So if you wanna come with me, fine…if you don't you can always take the other Sky Runner and go home."

Not surprisingly, the crowd grew silent. Ness' heart dropped and he lowered his gaze.

"I'll go with you."

Frank Fly stepped forward. His pink jacket, which was covered in blood, was slung casually over his shoulder. The crowd separated to let him through, and he strutted nonchalantly towards Ness, with one hand holding the jacket over his shoulder and the other poised daringly on his hip. Ironically, he had never looked cooler.

"Are you sure?" Ness smiled weakly, realizing that he just might have scared the only person willing to help him with that question.

Frank averted his gaze and stared at the ground. "Because of you I've been chased by the police, attacked by mutant monsters, sent to some base in the middle of nowhere, made into a cadet against my will, and forced to risk my life more times than I wanna think about. _And _you made me ruin my favorite jacket. If you think I'm just gonna leave after all that, you got another thing coming."

Ness felt a hand on his shoulder; it was Apple. He and Orange smiled at Ness reassuringly.

"We promised the Professor we'd see this thing through 'till the end," said the pudgy researcher. "We'll follow you to Hell itself if we have to."

"But…"

"No buts," said Orange. "We're going because we want to. That's what friends are for, right?"

Ness' smile grew wider. He turned to face Jeff, Tony, and Poo, the first of which gave Ness a thumbs-up.

"I'll go prep the Sky Runner," said Tony, and then walked away.

The people that made up what was left of SANCTUARY said their goodbyes and poured into the larger Sky Runner, ready to go home. Ness understood that they too had a difficult task ahead of them: recuperating, taking the dead to their families, and mourning the loss of everything they had worked for. They had the will to fight, just not the capacity.

A few minutes later they took off once more, casting one last look at the smoldering remains of SANCTUARY. There was a big, black hole where the base once was; it was hard to believe that there had ever been anything there at all. The flight to Fourside would be long and quiet, as each person mourned for what they had lost that day.

Far away from there, near Fourside, something began to stir.


	12. 12th Revolution: Unity

_**E. Revolution**_

_**-12th Revolution-**_

_**:Unity:**_

_**

* * *

**_  
The Sky Runner landed in a large clearing near downtown Fourside, in the ruins of what used to be a playground. The grass was brown, dead, and the earth it once used for sustenance was scorched. The swing sets, slides, and benches were crumpled and unusable.

The first thing Ness did after slowly disembarking from the craft was to survey the area around him. He was not pleased with what he saw: the once-majestic buildings of Eagleland's largest city had been toppled as if they were made of straw, their crippled appearance a testament to the horror that had taken place there so long ago. Massive holes were present in some, while others were let off easy, with shattered windows and charred façades as their only punishment. Someone or something of incredible power tore up the streets, ripping them apart or leaving them full of craters—this in turn caused some buildings to buckle under their own weight and fall over. Nothing was spared. There was debris everywhere.

"I knew they had trashed this place, but _this_…" Agent Poo removed his sunglasses from the pocket in his sleeve and slipped them on. "_This…_is unbelievable."

"Where are all the people?" Tony slipped off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, unconsciously mimicking Frank Fly, who was doing the same. "Surely there were survivors, right?"

"Not very many, but yes, there were survivors," answered Jeff. "While I was still here I was with a group that had set up a shantytown near the old Topolla Theater. Most people stay on the move, though, so there's no telling where anyone is right now."

Ness tried to ignore the feeling in the back of his head that told him that his father and sister were amongst those who hadn't survived the attack.

"We should get moving," he said after a while. "It'll be dark soon."

"I agree," said Poo. "According to the GPS, we're still far off from any of the residential districts, where we should be able to find somebody who can help us. Let's get going."

As the group started to walk, Ness felt Jeff's hand on his shoulder.

"You still don't recognize this place, do you?"

The boy shook his head. "No. Should I?"

"Look around…look at this playground. This is where we used to play when we'd go visit your aunt."

Ness examined the playground more closely. He faintly remembered an old brick building next to it, but it wasn't there anymore. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened to it.

"Oh man…"

Jeff nodded solemnly and tugged at Ness' shirt lightly. "Come on, we'd better catch up."

After a few hours of walking in silence, the group finally reached Ness' old neighborhood. The last traces of sunlight were disappearing from the horizon, and the cold, purple night was starting to filter through. The absence of any form of electric lighting made it very hard to see, although, ironically, the stars had never shone brighter. Ness recognized this street, for it was a short distance away from the apartment building in his home; he still felt that his family was gone, and the fact that he could see almost every building on the block in shambles did little to ease that feeling away.

"Hey, look!" Frank Fly burst out suddenly and ran forward, pointing out something in the distance. "I can see some light from over there!"

The seven men fell into silence again and broke into slow, wary runs, making their way to the source of the faint, reddish light that could be seen not too far away. At the same time something in Ness' stomach began to dig a hole in his gut.

Less than a minute later they arrived at their destination, and Ness suddenly felt very nauseous.

Only part of the front wall was left, and most everything had been ripped out or cast aside, but there was no mistaking it: this was Ness' apartment building. Parts of the edifice were scattered in the street in front of it; it was impossible to tell just what had happened to it. The light Frank had spotted earlier came from a fire inside, although the fragment of the wall that was still left standing made it difficult to tell who or what was there.

"Who's out there? Who are you?" A delicate, feminine voice rang out from the same direction as the fire. A few others could be heard as well, but this one stood out more than the rest, particularly so for Ness.

"Tracy…" his voice didn't work, but his lips mouthed the words. "Tracy…Tracy! Is that you!"

There was a pause before the voice was heard again. "Oh my God…Ness!"

A short, teenage girl appeared from within the confines of the building's remains. Her clothes were dirty and torn, and her hair was matted. Smudges of dirt and soot covered her arms and face. Her clear blue eyes were the only part of her that was clean.

As soon as the two siblings saw each other they broke into pained, joyful sobs and ran into each others arms. Tracy began sobbing as she buried her head in Ness' chest.

"You're alive…you're alive…I thought you were dead…"

Ness wrapped his arms around Tracy and held her close. "So did I," he said through stifled tears. "So did I…"

Two hours passed since then. Ness, his sister, his friends, and a few others were sitting around the fire, hearing the tales of SANCTUARY, Giygas, and the events of the past few weeks. Tracy, in turn, told her brother about her life after the attack on Fourside.

"Some of us left this place to join up with other groups or to get away from the city, so there's only a few of us left," she said. "The good news is we don't get attacked anymore…but we're running out of food, and most of the stores we raid for food are already empty. Things aren't really looking up."

Tony moved himself a little closer to Jeff and whispered in his ear. "You never mentioned that Ness' sister was alive."

"I didn't know until now," replied the blonde. "I was with another group, but I broke away from them to go look for my parents. I was already by myself when I was found."

Orange stared glumly at the fire and picked at a piece of lint on the sweater he was wearing. "Kinda makes you feel bad, doesn't it? All this time we at least had food and shelter…"

"We couldn't have done anything," said Apple comfortingly. "Besides, even if we could have taken people in, they would probably have died in the explosion."

Orange gave his partner a scornful sneer. "Your optimism is compelling," he muttered.

A few drops of water fell to the ground. No one had really noticed because of the darkness, but clouds blanketed the sky now, and it was starting to rain.

"We'd better get inside," said Tracy, who was already used to this. "Ness, you can bunk up with me in my tent. The rest of you guys can sleep over there." She pointed a long, slender finger at the wall of the building adjacent to where they were, which was still standing. A large aluminum shingle was propped up against the wall, providing a leaky, albeit usable, temporary shelter. The others filed inside without complaining, and Tracy led Ness to her tent.

Unsurprisingly, Ness was unable to sleep. He imagined the others felt the same way, especially given their accommodations. All he could manage to do was to stare emptily at the cloth that served as Tracy's tent and think about what he had heard and seen that day. It was hard to believe that only that very morning he was locked up in a cell in a place that no longer existed, talking to people that were now dead, his mind focused on proving to everyone that a girl long-dead was really alive.

"Can't sleep, can you." It was Tracy, who looked at Ness worriedly.

"I just…well, there's so much to think about…"

Tracy nodded. "Yeah. You sounded like you had your hands full too, back there."

Ness forced a grim smile. "More than you know. I'm glad I was able to find you, though…"

"And I'm glad that you're alive too, at least."

'At least'?

Ness propped himself up on one elbow. Then he realized that, despite his recent reunion, all was not right.

"Tracy…what happened to Dad?"

There was a long pause before he received an answer. "You…don't know," she stated. "I…thought you knew already."

Ness' eyes grew narrow. "Tracy…where is Dad? What happened to our father?"

Tracy sat up and motioned for Ness to get out of the tent. "Follow me. I'll show you."

The two of them crawled out of the tent and into the rain. Much to Tracy's surprise, Ness used a psychokinetic wave to form an invisible dome around them and deflect the downpour, although he wasn't willing to discuss that particular point then. Instead she led her brother out of their camp and around the corner, where they eventually came upon an empty lot, one that had been cleared out. The ground was full of small mounds of dirt, each decorated with a tombstone of sorts, made out of whatever could be found at the time.

Ness' jaw dropped and he began shaking his head. "No…"

Tracy took Ness' hand and stepped up to a mound in the back. The headstone was a mere wheel cover—Tracy had carved her father's name onto it, as well as the relevant dates of birth and death.

"He was one of the first to go," mused Tracy sadly. "He was trying to save me from one of those monsters…he had no chance."

Suddenly the invisible dome around Ness and Tracy vanished, and the rain fell freely, dowsing them. Ness fell to his knees, eyes blank, and stared at the grave of his father. Tracy kneeled down and put her arms around him, and the two sobbed quietly for a long while.

The next morning was greeted by a dense, gray cover of clouds that blocked a good portion of the sunlight and gave everything an opaque, dull glimmer, like everything had been put through a filter of gray. There were puddles all around the campsite, and some of their mud invariably ended up on everybody's clothes, regardless of whether or not they allowed it; it was impossible to tell who had been there for months and who had been there for hours.

The order of the days was a few spoonfuls of canned food, ransacked from the local grocer. Most of the food was approaching or had already passed its expiration date, and it tasted stale, but there was no one to complain. The knowledge that there was no other source of nutrition in that devastated city made the food at least tolerable.

"It's hard to believe that the military won't send a search and rescue team, huh," commented Apple while finishing up his last bit of creamed corn. "I wonder why."

"As far as they're concerned, everyone here is dead," replied Poo, who was kneeling down beside the remains of the previous night's campfire. "Hell, as far as _we _were concerned, this place was dead." He glimpsed Ness shuddering involuntarily at the mention of that last word, but kept it to himself.

"So what now? I know this will sound weird, but we've yet to encounter anything out of the ordinary," chimed in Tony. "So far we've only been able to get ourselves really dirty and maybe sick from eating weeks-old canned goods."

Agent Poo slipped on his sunglasses and reveled in the sense of comfort they provided him. "I was gonna suggest patrolling, but there's nothing to fight," he mused in his thick, Dalaamese accent. "I guess this means we're on the same boat as everyone else now."

Ness stared at the rapidly-cooling coals of the campfire and tried to bore into their core with his eyes, secretly hoping to find some answers there. It wasn't working.

_I can't remember what his face looked like anymore…_

"Exactly. Ness will lead us around, right Ness? Ness, you still in there?"

He quickly shook himself out of his reverie and focused on Jeff. "Um, what?"

"Patrol. We want to go look for other people and we want you to lead us around."

He glanced at the coals again, as if they would provide any more comfort, but their warmth had long since gone away. He looked to his friends and nodded melancholically. They didn't notice.

Two hours later, Ness, Jeff, and Poo had combed most of the surrounding area on foot. Not surprisingly, they found nothing.

"I guess this means we'll go back now, right?" Jeff took a moment to rest and sat on a large slab of concrete that had fallen from a nearby high-rise. "If we can't find anyone else here, then you can imagine what we'll find when we go to the less-crowded areas of the city."

As much as he hated to admit it, Jeff was right, thought Poo. "In that case, we'll go back after we finish checking out this neighborhood," he commanded. "It does make you wonder, though…"

Jeff stored his glasses in his breast pocket. "What?"

"Fourside has a population in the millions, and we've only managed to find a handful of survivors. Where did everybody else go?"

"They're dead."

Poo faced Ness and shot him a careful, slightly-less-penetrating glance. "Oh?"

"They're gone, all of them. They were probably eaten or something, I don't know."

Jeff rested his chin on his palm and stared at the buildings in the distance. "It would explain why we don't see so many corpses."

Ness' eyes widened as the full impact of what he had just said and heard hit home. A brief glimpse of his father being mauled by a wild monster flashed across his mind's eye. He tried to block it out, but slowly the image of a crippled, bloodied man came crawling up to him, covered in blood. His right leg had been chewed or torn off, leaving a trail of blood and sinew behind it. The man tried to raise a hand, as if reaching for something, but before he succeeded something shadowy and sinister grabbed him and pulled him into its inky darkness. Try as he might, Ness could not blot out the screams of pain and anguish.

That was when he realized that what he had seen wasn't just his imagination, and that he had just experienced a psychic vision of his father dying.

He stumbled a little, but he managed to regain his balance and stay upright by grabbing a nearby stoplight, one of the only ones still upright. Immediately he wished he hadn't. A precognizant image caught him by surprise and made his pupils dilate painfully.

"Look out!"

Before he could scramble out of the way, thanks in part to the debilitation his previous psychic vision had caused him, a bolt of lightning struck not a meter from where he was standing and knocked him to the floor roughly. The pole he was leaning on wobbled furiously before something uprooted it and cast it aside. Eventually the dust cleared and Ness was able to see again, but he soon wished he couldn't.

Standing above him was a vaguely human-shaped figure, as large as a very big and well-built man. Its arms and legs ended in tendrils, rather than hands or feet, and it seemed to be made of a dark, liquid metal, like mercury, which rippled and undulated in a way that suggested that it could collapse at any moment. Its head was actually a mound jutting out of what one could call its shoulders, and its eyes were two black slits that bore into Ness with murderous intent.

Like lightning, the Starman reared its left tendril and tried to ram it into Ness' head, but a combination of the boy's quick reflexes and sheer dumb luck made it miss by a few centimeters. The Starman attempted to stab Ness a second time, but he anticipated the attack and pushed against it using psychokinesis. The blast burst through the monster, ripping it in two from the inside and showering the upper half of the creature's mass behind it. Instinctively the Starman's integrity collapsed and became two blobs of liquid metal that regrouped and took shape once more. The minuscule break in hostilities allowed Ness to stand up and scramble to his friends.

"What _is _it!"

"How should I know! Is it Giygas?"

"I can't tell! It's like Giygas, but…different somehow. It doesn't feel right at all…"

The Starman lunged once again; this time its tendril stretched to compensate for the distance between it and its prey, but it was still entirely too fast and the group almost didn't have enough time to react and doge in time. The tendril burrowed furiously into a piece of upturned pavement behind them and quickly shrank back to rejoin its owner.

Poo wasted no time and vaulted two star-shaped blasts of energy towards the Starman, who stretched and distorted its body to the side to avoid the attack, its feet apparently glued to the ground. It had barely avoided the second blast when it bent backwards to dodge an electromagnetic shot from Tony's gun, which Jeff had borrowed and dowsed with blood previously. It went on like this for several minutes, with no one managing to land any hits on it until Ness and Poo blasted it simultaneously with psychokinetic waves. Since its mobility was inexplicably compromised and it wasn't pliable enough to escape two invisible forces pushing on it at the same time, it had to resort to drastic measures; in an instant it brought up its two tentacle-like arms and emitted its own psychic force to compensate.

For the first time in a long while, Agent Poo was actually very surprised.

"How can this…" his voice trailed off. "That's…impossible…"

Ness pushed harder against the Starman, only to find that his force was being returned to him in equal amounts. "Is that…it's psychokinesis, isn't it?"

"That's impossible!" Jeff fired another round at the Starman, only to see the monster twist to the side unnaturally and let the shot whiz by him. "You need an I.B. to be able to use psychic powers! No brain means no I.B., means no powers! It's gotta be something else!"

As if to agree with Jeff, the Starman discontinued its psychic countermeasures against Ness and Poo, and collapsed into a puddle of metallic goo which leapt over them in a splurt and landed behind them. The thing then began hopping down the street very quickly.

"Where's it going?" wondered Ness aloud.

"I don't know…wait a minute, which way did we come from before?"

Jeff cursed. "Oh no…it's heading for the others!"

Two grueling minutes later, the trio finally reached the street where the encampment was, only to find it eerily quiet. Tracy had been standing just outside and ran up to them the second they spotted each other.

"Ness, please tell me the thing that just showed up isn't going to attack us..."

Ness grabbed his sister comfortingly, albeit with a confused look on its face. "What? What do you mean? It hasn't attacked you?"

"No," replied Tracy. "It's just…standing there. It's really creepy."

The Starman was standing in the middle of the encampment, with its tendrils placed daintily on what a human would consider its hips. There was a circle of wary onlookers standing a good distance from it, so as not to provoke its ire. Apple, Orange, Frank, and Tony were the only people who dared draw near, although they too stayed a considerable distance from it.

"Why isn't it attacking us?" Jeff echoed the thoughts of nearly everyone present, except for Ness, who let go of Tracy and started ambling towards it. When he got to where Tony was he pushed him to the side.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he reached for Ness, but fear of the Starman stopped him. "What's wrong with you?"

"There's something I've been wondering," answered Ness. "Ever since it attacked us…I've had this weird feeling. I can't really describe it…but it's really familiar. Like I've seen it before."

Ness reached the Starman and stopped. Cautiously he put up his hand and tried to touch it. Satisfied that it would not react in any way, Ness pressed on and placed his fingertips on the creature's chest.

_Ness_…_you came._

Ness gasped. "Paula…is that you?"

_But…_

"But what?"

_But…you'd better run._

Suddenly the monster sprang back to life and blasted Ness at close range with a psychokinetic wave that launched him into the air. He crashed into Frank and the two tumbled to the ground roughly, eliciting screams and gasps from Tracy and the others. Soon enough, more bolts of lightning began striking the nearby area, and with each _crack_ a new Starman, cold and sinister as the last, materialized and began wreaking havoc on its surroundings. People scrambled frantically; some managed to run away, while others were caught in the mayhem, their screams silenced instantaneously.

Poo drew the Jun Zhu Tan and pointed it his teammates, barking orders. "You two! Take Frank and run, see if you can save any others. Tony, find Tracy and keep her safe!"

Orange shot Poo a defiant look. "What about you?"

"I'm taking care of it. Go now!" The Agent raised his sword to parry an incoming tentacle, which bounced off his blade with a metallic _klink_. Fueled by the sacred sword's energy, he dashed forward and ran his blade through the center of a Starman, then slashed upwards and neatly cleaved it in two.

By now the encampment was completely empty save for Ness, Jeff, and Poo, and a whole gang of vicious, seething piles of anthropomorphic, metallic gloop. Given the circumstances, the pools of gloop quickly surrounded the three men and formed a circle around them, using cautionary strikes of their extendable limbs to coax them in the direction that was most suitable to the troop of Starmen. While each of the three humans had the means to hurt or at least stave off their attackers, they were clearly in no position to come out of this battle victorious, and eventually they discontinued their futile attempts at self-defense, and let themselves be herded, back to back, into the center of an army of Starmen standing in concentric circles around them and probably numbering in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Those on the outside of the circle, who teleported to that location only after Ness and his friends were subdued, and thus were located outside the encampment, had to destroy parts of buildings or streets just to make room for themselves. From Ness' point of view, it looked as if the Starmen were destroying the city, bit by bit, all around him.

"So, um…any suggestions?" Jeff ran his hand through his blonde locks, trying to feign being nonchalant, but his hand was trembling far too hard for the illusion to work. "'Cause I'm having a really tough time coming up with anything that might get us out of this situation and doesn't involve dying."

"It's hopeless," replied Poo, deflecting a tentacle at the same time. "There's too many of those things to even attempt a successful counterattack."

"Meaning?" quipped Jeff.

"In plain English?"

"Please."

"We're fucked."

"Oh."

Ness growled at that last statement. "I refuse to believe that. Paula is _here_, somewhere, and she's connected to these…_things_, somehow."

Poo glanced at Ness out of the corner of his eye. "Do you still believe that?"

There was a short pause before Ness replied. "Have any better ideas?"

That familiar feeling was still there, in any case. Ness could still sense it, tugging at the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure what it meant but he knew, deep down, that it was like the other times he had seen Paula. As a sensation, it had the same texture.

_I know you're here, Paula…please, just talk to me…show me…_

"Show me were you are!"

Immediately the Starmen retracted their tentacles and stood in silence. Ness' scream echoed through the encampment, reverberating through the Starmen's metallic bodies and setting off a low hum. No one moved, not even him.

By the time he noticed the pink flaps of her dress, she was already walking amongst the Starmen with her eyes fixed on the ground. She was immaculate, clean, and almost unearthly compared to Ness' grimy clothes and battered body. The wind played with her hair and dress, but the air did not carry her smell towards him, because she had none. Jeff and Poo shifted their positions so as to stand by Ness on either side of him. The three of them waited until she had finished gliding past the Starmen to try and speak, but Paula hushed them immediately.

"Why didn't you run?" Her voice cracked when she said this. "Why did you stay here?"

Ness looked at her directly, but she avoided his gaze. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Paula shook her head. "I can't go anywhere with any of you. I'm trapped by this endless cycle now."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is."

Ness tightened his fists and stepped forward briskly, grabbing Paula by the shoulders and giving her a slight shake. "I don't believe that! If there's a problem, I'll take care of it! All I need is for you to tell me why! Tell me why you won't come with me!"

Paula looked up briefly, and for a moment Ness was able to see the tears in her eyes. "Because I don't want to have to kill you."

Jeff felt the hairs on his skin stand on end. "What the…"

Ness's pupils dilated, and he backed off from Paula. Her body suddenly grew very cold in his hands. Within seconds she was covered from head to toe with the same metallic sheen as the Starmen.

"Ness…I'm so afraid…"

With one last breath she became like liquid mercury in his hands and collapsed into a puddle on the floor. Ness stared at his hands before closing them, trying to catch what little was left of Paula before it slipped back to the Earth. He barely noticed the explosions that were being set off around him as thousands upon thousands of Starmen spontaneously exploded, their liquid particles clotting together to form giant balls of quicksilver that rolled slowly towards them.

Jeff was so startled by something that he fell to the floor and his glasses slid crookedly to the tip of his nose. Poo sheathed the Jun Zhu Tan and kneeled down beside him.

"Jeff, what's wrong?"

"It's…I…It's all so clear now," stuttered Jeff distractedly. "I understand now…"

"What? What are you talking about? What do you understand?"

"Everything," replied Jeff. "The attack on Fourside. Operation Giant Step. My uncle. Everything."

"How? How is that possible?"

"I felt it…the part of Giygas that's still inside me felt it."

Poo frowned. "So you know? You know why Paula's being held by Giygas?"

Jeff looked up, dumbstruck, and into Poo's eyes. It was as if he didn't believe what he was about to say himself.

"Paula _is _Giygas."

Poo's jaw dropped. He tried to speak but his throat sewed itself shut.

One of the large balls of liquid metal that had formed from the destruction of the Starmen lunged towards Poo from behind his back and toppled both he and Jeff to the ground. A second ball of gloop crashed into the first one and absorbed it, sealing its captives inside of it. Close by, another ball of metal had crashed into Ness and trapped him as well. Soon every orb of liquid metal coalesces into one gigantic sphere of shiny, rippling fluid that rose up into the sky. When it reached a certain distance above the ground, already outside of Earth's atmosphere it solidified and became still, like a second moon.


	13. Final Revolution: Reality

_**E. Revolution**_

_**-Final Revolution-**_

_**:Reality:**_

_**

* * *

**_  
"Five thousand years ago there was constructive order and there was constructive disorder. Relation and non-relation were intertwined, such that everything was true, and everything was false. Only when humankind took shape did these things change; their inherent perception of Everything divided the world into right and wrong, chaos and order, good and bad. It is from this imposed Truth that the being known as 'Giygas' was born."

Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo stood on a smooth surface that stretched to the horizon. It was slightly curved. The sky that loomed over their heads seemed to be made of the same material, and different spots of it flashed with dull colors that had once been bright. It looked and felt like a storm, but it wasn't a storm, and there was nothing to be felt or looked at.

"Giygas was dischord in a human-built world of law. It begot destruction and chaos just as humans thought they begot creation and structure. They naturally feared it and sought to seal it away. And they did."

Paula stood in front of the other three with her hands behind her back. As she spoke her words became history and her voice became imagery. Ness was intimately familiar with this; Jeff and Poo were not. They refused, however, to feel confusion or fear. Paula spoke once more, and this time her words manifested as visual stimuli.

"Giygas was sealed in a pyramid of human design, where it slept for five thousand years. However, its prison was nowhere near eternal, and when its bonds were sufficiently corroded, it called out to someone so that it could be free."

Ness nodded. "My mother."

"And her mentor. And her mentor's student, who loved her deeply though she did not love him back."

The face of Ness' mother could be seen in the sky. Maxwell Labs was also there, briefly.

"Blinded by their own preconceptions, they freed Giygas from its prison. Of the three, only one did not realize the true nature of Giygas. He was too blinded by his own truth to see beyond it."

"Maxwell Labs," said Jeff.

"He tried to kill it, because he thought it could be killed. He finally realized that he had become like it, in the end, but until then he was as destructive as anything else could be. Whereas Giygas was born from fear of chaos, he, on the other hand, thrived on it."

Suddenly the world around the four of them collapsed and was replaced by a house with a white picket fence and a front and back yard. Toys were scattered everywhere. It looked like a sunny day even though the sky was still gray, and the red-and-green lightning still made noise. When the little girl in the yellow dress and her parents showed up, their laughter was muffled and distant.

"There are people who can break the walls of human reality even without knowing it. People like this earned the enmity of Giygas, for it knew that they could eliminate it and the balance that kept human reality alive. Those who knew this fact aimed to stop this from happening. The Great War between Giygas and humanity, between destructive order and destructive disorder, began just like this."

For a moment everyone saw brief flashes of a small child in a faraway land, playing with a wooden sword and dreaming of the day he was to be crowned king, but they were fleeting images that did not stay with them for long. Instead, the four of them witnessed a spectacle that was far more bizarre than anything they had ever seen. A little girl in a yellow dress fought monsters of all shapes and sizes, and the power of her thoughts set them on fire and melted them away. People older than her took her away to a place with white walls, where she grew and occasionally was allowed to go home again. A boy with a ponytail became her friend, and he too grew into an adult. The house with the white picket fence faded into nothingness and was replaced with a gigantic machine. Ness knew this machine, for he had seen what it could do firsthand. The mere thought of it gave him goose bumps.

"The Devil's Machine was going to eradicate Giygas once and for all by harnessing the latent powers of the human mind. In the end, only one was needed to power the machine. It was a foolish undertaking from the start."

Poo gripped the Jun Zhu Tan until his knuckles went white. "I remember that day. Paula volunteered to go instead of me. That means that I could've…"

"But you didn't. You weren't meant to. Instead, the entirety of humankind was almost killed."

A blood-curdling shriek pierced the air. No one had to see anything to know what it meant. Operation Giant Step attracted Giygas like a magnet. In the ensuing struggle between it and SANCTUARY, it killed Paula and part of it accidentally took her place.

Ness felt very nauseous all of a sudden. "The message in the tablet…it was for you, Paula, wasn't it? That's why they went after you first, all those years ago…Giygas thought it could preserve itself by getting rid of you."

Paula nodded. "But then you started seeing me in your dreams."

"I knew it," said Jeff solemnly. "That's why it attacked Fourside. It explains everything."

"Not everything," said Poo. "It doesn't explain why Paula never realized who she was. It doesn't explain why she had all the memories of the real Paula."

"That's because she _is _the real Paula," spat Ness. "I don't care what anyone says, you're Paula."

"I appreciate the sentiment," whispered Paula, and a wry smile crossed her lips. "But you're wrong."

For a long while, everyone was silent, save for the lightning in the sky. Then Jeff spoke.

"So…what's going to happen to us now?"

Paula turned her head to the side, as if hiding her own guilt by looking away. "You will die in this place, and Giygas will have no one else to destroy it. It will stay here, away from everything. Then humanity will stagnate and die."

"I'm not going to allow that," said Ness, taking a step forward. "You said that people like us could change the way things are, right? Well, I'll change the entire world if it means getting you out of here!"

Paula's expression became pained, confused. "Why do you insist on saving something that can't be saved?"

Ness took another step forward. "Because I'm not afraid."

Poo joined Ness and drew the Jun Zhu Tan once more. "I'm still not sure about all of this, but the kid's right," he said coolly.

"Of _course_ he's right," added Jeff sardonically. "It's what makes him so damn stubborn. In any case, we're not leaving here without you, Paula."

Paula closed her eyes and tears began to stream down her cheeks. "Then you will not leave at all."

She tried to say, 'I'm sorry', but her words were drowned out by the most terrifying roar Ness had ever heard.

Back on the ground, the five remaining survivors of the massacre that had taken place just a few hours before were sitting in a circle around a dwindling fire that had been cobbled together from some splintered furniture, a nearby tree, and a discarded motorcycle that, through some miracle, still had gasoline in its tank. It wasn't particularly cold, but it was quite dark, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky and stars illuminated the wasteland like fireflies.

Tracy was lying on her back and admiring her bug's-eye view of the cosmos. "You know, I kind of find this relaxing," she said.

Orange scoffed. "There's a second moon in the sky where there wasn't one two hours ago. How can you _possibly _find that relaxing?"

"I don't know," said Apple. "I feel the same way. It makes me feel like nothing bad is gonna happen tonight. Like we're safe."

"I guess…" conceded Orange. The group fell silent.

After a few minutes of comfortable contemplation Frank sighed. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. I was saving this for later, but now's as good a time as any." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, stainless steel flask with an ivory cap, which he unscrewed. "Anyone wanna join me? This is good stuff."

Orange raised an eyebrow. "Of all the things you could have brought from the base, you brought booze?"

"Hey, like I said, it's good stuff. Premium malt whisky. I figure we're in deep as it is, so what the hell." With that he took a swig and offered the flask to Orange, who shrugged, took it and drank from it. He was going to pass the flask on to Tracy when the reality of what he was doing sunk in.

"I guess you're too young to drink, aren't you."

Tracy glared at him. "Like he said, we're in deep as it is, so what the hell?" She snatched the metallic flask and unceremoniously took a long draught from it. Instantly she grimaced and began coughing, prompting Apple to take the drink from her and pat her on the back.

"Ack, that stuff's horrible."

Apple chuckled amiably and took a sip. "It's okay. I'm not too fond of it myself. What about you, Tony?"

The redhead was staring at the sky and barely even noticed Apple until he was offered the flask. "Huh, what? Oh, sorry about that."

"That's okay," replied Apple. "Anything on your mind?"

"Not really, I was just thinking…that maybe Jeff's up there."

Frank made a sound like a confused monkey. "Eh? Where? In the second moon, you mean?"

"Yeah."

The gangster sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. "At this point, I'll believe anything."

Tracy grabbed a nearby branch and threw it into the fire. "D'you think that's possible? That they're up there?"

"Knowing them?" Orange fixed his green eyes on the fire. "They've probably already been halfway to Hell and back. And if we talked to them now they'd complain that they should have gone all the way there."

"Yeah," said Apple. "And then Poo'd be all like," and he stretched his eyes and began speaking in a forced accent that mocked Agent Poo's. "I haa seeen fah wuss dan dis. Doan act so suh-prised!"

Tony began to laugh at Apple's performance. Soon after he was joined by the others, and they guffawed for the better part of half an hour before they fell silent. Tracy fell onto her back again and began staring at the dark silhouette of the second moon as it eclipsed the first.

"Ness…you'd better be alright."

The true form of Giygas did not have any discernible shape or form. When it attacked, it seemed to do so out of nothing. It was impossible to even imagine what it was like. The only thing that seemed constant about it was its inhuman roar.

Ness leapt to the side to avoid a tendril that was shooting at him, and used psychokinesis to block the chunk of unidentified matter that tried to hit him while he was in mid-air. He tumbled to the ground a short distance away and was back on his feet before a bolt of black lightning struck the ground where he was.

Jeff was running in circles and figure eights to make himself harder to hit, and fired his gun into the air whenever he thought he saw something that could conceivably pass for a target. So far he was having little luck actually hitting anything, and at one point he almost hit Paula, but the blast from his pistol was blocked by an invisible shield that enveloped the girl and deflected the blast. The shock that this produced made Jeff stop running long enough for something hit him square in the shoulder, dislocating it and drawing blood.

Agent Poo was using the Jun Zhu Tan to great effect defensively, but was unable to counterattack, and he knew it. He parried something that came flying at him with the flat of the blade and tried to catch it in mid-air using psychokinesis, but whatever it was, it was able to break free and fly away before something else came at him and he was forced to defend again. Deep down he knew that eventually he would tire, and Giygas would not.

_This is hopeless!_ Ness struggled against a wall that was trying to crush him, and he eventually pushed it away using psychokinesis and brute strength. He had barely caught his breath when the very ground below him began to quake and crumble. The gaping maw left by the sudden depression seemed to go down indefinitely, and Ness was left hanging on the edge of it.

_The only one who can save us is Paula…_

"Paula, listen to me!" Ness called out to her though he couldn't see where she was. "I don't care what happened to you! You are not Giygas! You can fight this!"

Paula sniffled. "I can't do anything. Not anymore."

"Yes you can!" Ness finished pulling himself up and rolled onto his back. "This isn't the Paula I know!"

"You don't…you don't know anyone named Paula…it was all just an illusion…"

"No it wasn't!" Ness got on his feet and began running towards a figure clad in pink that he could barely make out in the distance. "I know you! Ever since I met you you've always been there for me! Whenever I was close to giving up, you gave me the strength to keep fighting! I wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for you, Paula!"

Paula wiped the tears from her eyes. "Ness…I…"

"You asked me to find you…in my dreams. Somewhere there's a part of you that knows this isn't right. I know there is. I…"

He was going to continue, but something smacked into his side and he fell to the floor. His rib cracked painfully and, despite the darkness that made it hard to see, he could tell that he was bleeding. Acting on instinct, he launched a wave of psycholuminescence that did nothing other than provoke a shriek of rage from Giygas. Something—a huge tentacle—tried to whip at him in response, and Ness knocked it away with telekinesis, but he miscalculated and the tip of the tentacle flew into the air, straight towards Paula, who merely stared at the projectile, knowing it wouldn't harm her. She only flinched when the air around her was suddenly displaced and Agent Poo stood before her, deflecting the tentacle with a flick of his blade.

"You know, I'm supposed to be your bodyguard too," he said, without facing her. "As well as the Professor, I mean."

"You didn't have to do that," complained Paula. "Nothing would've happened to me."

"I swore to the Professor that I would protect you, many years ago. That's what I'm doing right now."

Poo hadn't even lowered his sword before an invisible force dragged him into the air and flung him a good distance away, where he slammed into the floor and lost his grip on the Jun Zhu Tan.

"Poo!" Jeff ran up to the Agent and hefted him onto his shoulders. "Poo, you okay? Speak to me!"

Poo mumbled something about protecting Paula before he fell unconscious.

Jeff let out a scream of rage and began firing at the air around Paula, hitting nothing. When he saw that this wasn't working he ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"I don't know what's eating you, but you'd better snap out of it! Even if you aren't the original, you're still Paula and you're still important to us! Now come on!"

Something sharp pierced Jeff's back. He coughed up a river of sticky, red fluid, and fell so close to Paula that his blood splattered on her shoes.

"Jeff…no…"

Ness limped up to Paula. By now he was dizzy from blood loss but still sober enough to speak.

"You're the only one who can stop this. Paula…"

By then Paula was crying freely, and when Ness collapsed into her arms she began to sob.

"Ness…I'm so afraid…"

Ness used his blood soaked hands to caress her cheek.

"Don't be afraid. I believe in you, Paula…."

His hand fell to the floor. Paula grabbed it and began shaking it, but Ness was too far gone. She grabbed him by the shoulders and buried her face in his chest until she felt she was pressing so hard she was hurting him. Then she got up and screamed.

The sky shattered. Light began pouring in as explosions rocked the core of the second moon. Paula produced as much psychic damage as she could before falling to the ground.

"Hey, look at that."

Frank glanced upwards and was surprised to find that the second moon was lighting up.

"What…the…hell is that?"

"I'm not sure," replied Apple. "But it looks like it's…cracking open?"

"It's shattering," clarified Orange. "It's shattering into a million pieces. I wonder what it means."

"It's their doing, probably." Tony flicked a rebellious red bang behind his ear. "If they really were up there, then…"

He never got to finish. The second moon exploded and its fragments hurtled towards Earth and became shooting stars when they burned up in the atmosphere. A strong wind began to blow.

Shortly after the meteor shower there was a wave of light. It was a curious thing, like a transparent blanket that snaked its way towards Earth. It flickered irregularly, and for every time it seemed to blink out of existence a sensation not unlike fear came over the group of people huddled around the burnt-out campfire.

After a few minutes the aurora pierced the atmosphere. What was once a distant-looking trick of light and physics became an all-too-real _thing_ that floated ever closer to the ground with each ripple.

"It's going to reach us soon, isn't it?"

Tracy was the first to say what everyone was thinking and was afraid to acknowledge.

"Very soon," replied Tony.

"…I knew it."

"This is the end," said Frank. "This is the end of the world."

Apple looked away from the light and at his longtime friend.

"Orange," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Um…I just wanted to say…thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Orange slipped his sunglasses back on to hide a tear. "Me too."

Frank swore to himself. "Hell of a way to go. In a wasted city surrounded by three geeks and a little girl." He took out a cigarette and lit it.

"I hope I reincarnate as a pro wrestler. That'd be nice."

Tracy tugged on Tony's sleeve. "Hey, Tony? Would you mind holding my hand?"

Tony smiled. "Sorry. I'm not into girls."

"…please?"

"…yeah, sure. Why not."

The two held their sweaty hands together as hard as they could and did not take their eyes off the light until it had enveloped them.

Inwardly, they all began to pray.

_The Earth looks strange from up here_ concluded Ness as he hurtled through outer space. This was the only thing he could think of at that time. His wounds were gone. He wasn't breathing, but he felt he didn't need to.

Eventually he stopped moving and came to rest in a piece of Universe somewhere over Fourside, his home. It looked like a speck of dust from this vantage point, but it was definitely Fourside.

_When the Chosen_ _Boy reaches the point, he will find the light._

Ness saw the sun looming from behind the Earth, bathing it with golden rays. It was so bright that it hurt him.

_The Passing of Time will shatter. The Nightmare Rock will reveal the Path of Light._

Two chunks of rock floated in front of him, blocking out the sun. Time froze for Ness, and he could see a clear path leading to Earth between those two rocks.

The sheer power of Ness' will propelled him towards the space between those to rocks and towards his home. While in motion he was overcome with a deep sense of peace. He could feel Paula, Jeff, and Poo trailing behind him. Every question he had ever asked himself suddenly had an answer, clear as spring water. He felt reborn. He felt that everything was reborn.

_And then we will begin the Revolution._

When Ness awoke from his slumber he found that he was lying on top of a hill facing a large, open meadow. The morning sun shone in his eyes, but he didn't mind it all that much.

There was a slight rustling to his right, and he turned to see Paula getting on her feet. She wobbled, as if she had never used her legs before. Ness thought that perhaps she hadn't. He cried out to her.

"Paula."

"I'm here," she said. The two stood to face each other, then rushed into each others' arms and shared a warm embrace.

"I feel…different," she said weakly. "I feel like a new person."

Ness chuckled sagely. "Like a human."

"…yes."

"Me too."

Jeff made his presence known soon afterwards.

"Wow, that was some trip! Hey, where are we?"

"Who knows," replied Kai Poo, who joined them as well. The Jun Zhu Tan was gone from his side, lost forever. "But we're alive, so that counts for something."

Jeff surveyed the area around them. It was green as far as the eye could see. There were a few trees scattered here and there, and a jungle snaked majestically up a mountain in the distance. The smell of seawater wafted through his nostrils from somewhere far away.

"So, does this mean we did it? We defeated Giygas?"

Ness smiled and shook his head. "We don't have to think like that anymore. Giygas…was like us. It needed us to exist, just as we needed it in turn. That was the way we had built our reality. But now…"

"Now," interrupted Poo. "We can do whatever we want."

"Sort of."

Paula pointed a slender finger towards the horizon.

"Ness, look…are those…people?"

A swarm of people, people that had been reborn, was running towards them. Most of them were cheering. All of them were happy.

Jeff took off his glasses and looked at his reflection in the lenses. He was pleased to see that his eyes were bright blue again. "So this is what you call enlightenment," he whispered to himself before putting the lenses back on.

Poo approached Ness from behind and put a hand on his shoulder. "They're all here because of you," he said. "You were the one who made all of this possible."

"Maybe," replied Ness. "But I wasn't alone." He tightened his grip on Paula. She hugged him back.

"What do we do now, Ness?" Asked Paula.

Ness let go of her and took a few steps forward. Paula, Jeff, and Poo grouped together behind him, eager to follow his lead.

"Now? Now we start a revolution," he said, and the four of them marched towards their brethren with open hearts, ready to begin anew.


End file.
